


HOE || Minlix

by Strayis



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst and Drama, Felix feels alone and left out (my poor baby), Felix has anxiety, Felix is a bit of an asshole, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jeon Jungkook is a Good Friend, Jeon Jungkook is a Sweetheart, Jeonlix??? I just made up a ship but oh well, Lee Felix (Stray Kids)-centric, Lee Minho is a jerk, Lee Minho is misunderstood, M/M, Minho is a hoe, Minlix - Freeform, Namjoon and Jin are parents of five out of control children, There will be smut because why not?, You are going to wish you could hit both of them :), a lot of drama, namjin - Freeform, non-canon, stray kids au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2020-09-30 13:54:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20448203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strayis/pseuds/Strayis
Summary: "Minho hyung, can you teach me how to be a hoe?""Rude. But sure."The question had been a joke Felix asked Minho a few months ago. But, Felix had never thought that he would one day look at himself in the mirror and realise he had become a hoe without his beloved hyung's help. Although, maybe Minho nudged him in that direction when he destroyed their friendship. Is there any way for them to repair their relationship and for the possibility of becoming more than friends to arise?-------------------------This is a dramatic pile of shits and giggles. Expect unrealistic situations and relationships and characters. But hey, there's a reason this is on here and not being written for the book store.Enjoy this flavoursome meal of clichés and ships with some spicy side dishes of angst, fluff, smut, slow burn and the deliciously complicated thing called emotions.





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction. Any names, places or events similar to real life are purely coincidental.
> 
> ⚠WARNING⚠  
THIS FANFICTION WILL CONTAIN MATURE SCENES 🔞
> 
> READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Felix glances around at the sweaty bodies jostling each other as they sway and jerk to the music. His eyes land on Minho and Jisung who are passionately making out in the middle of the room. A familiar flicker of jealousy and annoyance spark in his chest, the flames lick at his heart, sending it galloping away from the burn of the the emotions.

His jaw tenses and he immediately looks away only to spot Chan and Woojin doing the exact same thing as Minho and Jisung. His stare turns stony as his gaze falls on Changbin, Hyunjin and Seungmin who are engaging in some form of three way dance and make out session. He blanches and frowns in disgust at the sight, not because he despises their action, but because he is jealous; Jealous that he is never asked to be apart of his hyungs' hook ups.

He feels himself deflate as he catches sight of a heartbroken Jeongin whose own stare is transfixed on Changbin and Seungmin who are on either side of a breathless Hyunjin, kissing the taller ebony haired male's neck.

Felix stands from the grey three seater chair slowly with a shaky exhale. He feels his hands start to shake and his heart struggle violently against the confines of his ribcage as he stares into the writhing mass of bodies before him. He exhales harshly before weaving his way through the crowd towards Jeongin. He is about to reach the younger blond when two dancing guys trap him between them and three girls.

Panic and anxiety flare inside of him. His vision swirls and darkens. His breathing shallows and he is gulping, suffocating, as oxygen struggles to enter his lungs. Tears prick at his eyes and his lips tremble. "Jeongin," he chokes out but it is barely above a whisper, a quiet plea lost to the booming beat of the music.

Felix attempts to shove past the bodies crushing against him but his attempts seem futile as none of them budge. Jeongin snaps his gaze away from the three lost in their own world, his eyes widening as he meets Felix's terrified brown eyes.

The blond rushes forward, immediately grabbing Felix's hand and leading him away from the crowded room. He gently pulls his hyung out the front door, carefully leading him down the drive way towards the nearby park. Once they reach the park swathed in shadows and moonlight, and the party is nothing more than distant thumps of music, Jeongin hugs Felix tightly, muttering words of comfort to the still trembling boy.

"You're okay. Everything is fine. I am here, Felix. You are okay," he only pulls away from the older male when the blond's grip loosens. He trails his hand down Felix's arm and intertwines their fingers warily. His eyes search Felix's for any discontent towards the action. The blond shows none. Instead, he intertwines their free hands and stares into Jeongin's eyes with an intensity that sets the younger ablaze with want. If only Hyunjin would look at him like this, he could be truly happy.

He leans closer to Felix, gazing into his hyung's brown eyes alight with adoration and love just for him. He presses his body flush with Felix's, their fingers still intertwined by their sides, and kisses the blond gently. He presses his lips to Felix's soft ones slowly to allow the other time to pull away if he wanted. He smiles into the kiss before deepening it as Felix responds eagerly, the latter disentangling one of his hands from Jeongin's to place is gently by the blond's jaw.

Jeongin gasps in surprise at the sensation of Felix's tongue slipping into his mouth. They battle for dominance, Jeongin winning by surprising Felix into submission. The younger grins at the blond's startled moan in response to him gripping his waist tightly and pulling him impossibly closer.

Felix went to pull away, embarrassment setting his cheeks ablaze with fiery red, but Jeongin stopped him by gripping his waist tighter and kissing him harder.

Jeongin takes a small step forward, applying pressure to Felix's waist in a way so that he stepped backwards, their lips still attached as Jeongin follows him closely. Jeongin pushes his hyung up against a red plastic wall dimmed by the shadows of night cast upon it.

Felix's hand slips from Jeongin's jaw down to the the back of his neck, moving until the former's fingers were tangled into the younger's short blond hair. Jeongin's surprised gasp was followed by a deep moan as Felix kissed and sucked on his neck, finding his sweet spot almost immediately. He tilted his head to the side to give his hyung more access. He was breathing heavily now, lust clouding his brown eyes, need darkening them by several shades.

Jeongin grinded into Felix experimentally, eliciting a loud moan from the blond. He grinded against Felix again and whined as the latter pulled away from his neck and loosened his grip on Jeongin's hair. Jeongin met Felix's searching stare with curiosity and concern.   
"What's wrong?"

"Are you sure you want to continue this? Especially with me?" Jeongin frowned as Felix's insecurities shined through his words as brightly and obviously as the moon shining through the branches of the trees they had walked under to reach this park.

"Felix," he inhaled slowly, collecting his thoughts. He placed his other hand on Felix's waist so that both of them were resting comfortably just above the older boy's hips. "Yes. I am sure. I am sure because I am with you, and..." he trailed off, glancing to the side as tears sprung up into the corners of his eyes and a lump formed in his throat, threatening to inhibit his ability to speak. Felix gripped Jeongin's chin between his thumb and forefinger gently and turned his head until he could see the younger blond's eyes again.

"Oh, Jeongin-"

"Don't worry. It's just... I know that if we continue this, it won't be meaningless like it is to Hyunjin."

"Hmmm... true. But although our hyungs hook up all the time, I don't think it is all meaningless. Didn't they even ask you to join a few times?"

"Yeah, they did."

"And didn't you join?"

"Yeah..." Jeongin trailed off his attention focused on Felix as he realised that there was more to Felix's questions and comforting words than he had originally thought.

"Felix?" He searched the other's eyes silently as the blond responded with a casual 'hmm'. "They haven't asked you, have they?" He was ninety-nine percent sure that this was the case, but he wanted to be sure. Sympathy blossomed in his chest as the older shook his head dejectedly and dropped his gaze to the ground.

"Felix, look at me," he waited until the aforementioned blond looked back up at him. He leaned forward and whispered into his hyung's ear, "They don't know what they're missing."

He reinitiated the kiss from before, immediately slipping his tongue into Felix's mouth and pulling the blond as close to him as possible, trapping Felix between the wall and his body. He slid his hands under the blond's shirt after Felix nodded his permission, and allowed them to roam all over the blond's torso. Jeongin trailed sloppy kisses down from Felix's lips to his jaw to his neck. He began marking the older blond slowly, savouring the taste of Felix's slightly salty skin and the way it felt pressed tightly against his lips.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Jeonging felt Felix flinch beneath him as Minho's shout pierced their lust-dazed minds. Jeongin detached his lips from Felix's neck slowly, before casually turning his head to meet the seething brunette's stare.

"What does it look like, hyung?" He responded, annoyance corroding his words. He knew Felix had feelings for Minho and that the latter stumbling across them means that this was over. Possibly never to be done, ever, depending on what Minho said. Movement caught his attention and he saw that the other members were not far behind Minho.

Each and every one of them wore bewildered expressions, including Chan. Although, whether that was because of how they found the two blonds or because of how Jeongin spoke to Minho, he wasn't sure. He glanced at Felix who had begun to tremble with everyone's attention focused intensely on them.

Jeongin went to remove his hands from the uncomfortable blond's waist but he was stopped by Felix's hands which held them in place before hooking them around Jeongin's neck, pulling him closer and kissing him passionately, as a determined look replaced his prevoiusly fearful one. Jeongin's arms snaked around Felix's waist and he gripped the back of his hyung's shirt tightly. He knew what this was; This was a show. A show put on just for their hyungs who unashamedly did this in front of them all the time- and to be completely honest, Jeongin wasn't adverse to playing his role.

He moaned loudly as Felix began marking his neck again tilting his head to give Felix easier access to his sweet spot. Not all of this was going to be an act for him, it felt amazing. He understood why his hyungs were able to do this so shamelessly, now. It was so easy to become lost in the maze of euphoric feelings, so easy to forget the heavy eyes of others, watching like scientists observing which rat finds their way out of the maze first, so easy to forget that this is all a show for an audience and not reality.

Suddenly, hands were tearing them away from each other roughly. Jeongin was surprised as he observed the cocky smirk on Felix's face until he saw who was holding onto Felix. Minho and Chan. Felix met Jeongin's stare and cocked an eyebrow, his smugness growing as he glanced at the ones still holding Jeongin tightly.

Jeongin glanced left and then right, his own smirk settling into his features, easily morphing into a satified grin as he saw Hyunjin and Seungmin beside him. Hyunjin, to his glee appeared disgruntled by what he had witnessed, along with an unusual expression that Jeongin couldn't quite place, but knew he had seen before.

"Why'd you interrupt us?" he asked, batting his eyelashes innocently, as if he hadn't just been making the lewdest of sounds seconds before. "Felix and I weren't done," his smirk grew as he loudly whispered a comment to rile not only Hyunjin, but also Minho. "He's _really _talented. Did you know that?"

"We know!" Hyunjin snapped, a storm cloud darkening his features. "We have ears!"

Felix smiled at Jeongin knowingly, envy flashing in his eyes before it disappearing as quickly as it came.

"Perhaps, but do you know how good he _feels_?"


	2. CHAPTER ONE

_5 months earlier..._

Felix was laying comfortably on the couch in the living room, absentmindedly scrolling through instagram in a vain attempt to ignore the sounds emanating from Minho's room. He sighed heavily as the moans grew louder- too loud to ignore.

He stood from the couch, stretching to encourage blood flow around his body. The red head sighed again before walking towards the room he shared with Seungmin. He entered the room not expecting to see the brunette in the room, let alone sprawled out on his bed.

"What are you doing on my bed?" Felix asked his younger friend. The boy threw a glance at the the red head and shrugged.

"It's comfy."

"So? You have your own bed. Get off," he walked towards the brunette, grabbed his wrist and began dragging the latter off of the bed. Seungmin growled and yanked his wrist away from Felix, annoyance dancing delicately over his features. Felix found himself admiring how Seungmin could express any emotion elegantly. Even disgust and despair looked good on the younger.

Felix yelped when he was tugged down on top of the brunette unexpectedly. The younger giggled at his hyung's cute expression; his eyes wide in shock, his lips parted slightly. The red head blushed at the close proximity of his face to Seungmin's and struggled to wriggle out of the younger's strong grip. He frowned as the boy chuckled at his futile attempts to free himself.

"Let me go, Seungmin,"Felix ordered. A pout unconsciously reaching his lips as he spoke.

"No. I want to cuddle," the brunette replied with a small smile. Felix exhaled forcefully. Although he loved skinship and especially loved cuddling with his friends, he really wasn't in the mood to be that close to anyone right now. In fact, he just wanted to be alone.

"Not today, Seungmin. Please. Not today," he whispered before pushing away from the brunette successfully. Seungmin sat up, a solemn look of understanding settling in his brown eyes.

"Lixie..." his voice was faint as he whispered the boy's name. He watched silently as the red head walked swiftly around the room, collecting his wallet, earphones and jacket before exiting the room without another word or glance.

The brunette released a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes before flopping back onto his hyung's bed. Why can't Felix just ignore what their stupid hyungs do behind closed doors? He groaned and pulled out his phone.

\------------------------------------------------------

2:44pm  
**Seungminnie😇**  
_Where did you go?_

Read 2:45pm

2:50pm  
**Seungminnie😇**  
_Felix?_

Read 2:55pm

3:20pm  
**Seungminnie😇**  
_They've stopped now. You can come home._

Unseen

\------------------------------------------------------

  
Seungmin dropped his phone down beside him while squeezing his eyes shut and exhaling slowly. Silence reigned so profoundly within the house that it swallowed the lewd sounds which had been infiltrating the rooms mere seconds before. He heard the rushing of water of the shower and clenched a fist. He swung his arm over his eyes, his nails digging into his palm as he lay quietly on the red head's bed, waiting for a response.   
A gentle knock on the door caused Seungmin to remove his arm from over his face and glance in the direction of the sound which completely contrasted the earlier frantic banging on the walls. The door opened slowly as Chan poked his head into the space cautiously.

"Oh, you're awake," the slightly disheveled blonde shifted awkwardly before continuing. "I was just going to ask if you and Felix wanted- wait, where is Felix?" The blond ran his eyes over the room again, confused by the lack of the aussie boy. Seungmin shrugged before picking up his phone again. He frowned when he saw that the red head still hadn't seen his last message.

"Seungmin," the leader's tone became serious. "Where is Felix?" Both boys knew that it was bad for the red head to be alone in public. He easily became anxious in crowds, often times having panic attacks when he was trapped between people he didn't know or trust. The brunette glared up at his blond hyung, anger and concern flaring in his chest.

"I. Don't. Know. Hyung," he spat out at Chan, his tone venomous. "Why don't you ask him? Let's see if you even get a response." The blond blinked at Seungmin in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

¿~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~¿

Felix speed walked down the busy streets nervously. He ignored the anxiety growing in his chest as people pushed past him and continued towards his destination. He was determined to reach the café by himself. He didn't want to need anyone's help anymore.

The second Felix's phone dinged, he pulled it out of his pocket, his hand shaking. He opened the message to view it properly but quickly returned his phone to his jacket pocket after seeing that it was just Seungmin asking for his whereabouts. He grumbled to himself about not being trusted or believed in by the others to do a simple task by himself. This only added fuel to his determination burning in his chest to reach the café and order himself a drink by himself.

He walked quickly with uneven strides, his whole body tense with the effort to ignore the almost constant flow of people around him. He flinched as his phone dinged again.

The red head continued to weave nervously through the crowd of people walking in opposite directions around him. He exhaled, relief swamping him as the café came into view.

He smiled happily as he entered his favourite place to chill out when he wasn't at home. He practically skipped towards the counter, easily lining up behind the four people in front of him. He scanned the menu quickly and decided he would order some food as well as a drink when his stomach rumbled. Settling on a option, he pulled out his phone to see who had messaged him. He sighed when he saw that it was just Seungmin again. He switched his phone to silent and pocketed it once again as the guy in front of him moved forward to place his order.

Felix attempted to ignore the anxiety nipping at his heart, sending it galloping like a sheep bolting away from a herding dog. He tapped his forefinger against his thigh unconsciously while muttering his order to himself absentmindedly in a futile attempt to prepare himself for ordering it himself. Why did he think this was a good idea? The earlier triumph and happiness at reaching the store himself without having an anxiety attack dissapated, swiftly being replaced by overwhelming anxiety and paralyzing terror as the cashier called out _'next_'.

The red heead trembled violently, frozen in place as his anxiety consumed him, darkening and blurring his world like a hurricane. The swirling terror ravaging his mind and heart eased as a hand pressed comfortingly against his back before sliding to his waist. The hand pulled him close to another body and guided him forward. Felix blinked in surprise at the tall ebony haired male beside him. Too shocked by the sudden familiar gesture by a complete stranger and too dazed by his anxiety to do anything but stand there as the stranger took charge of the nerve wracking situation.

"He will have an iced chocolate and today's special," the dark haired male spoke clearly, ordering Felix's planned order for him. As the merciless storm of anxiety began to subside, his curiosity grew in its wake. How did this stranger know exactly what he wanted? "I will have today's special as well, but could I also get a caramel latte and a slice of the black forest cake, please?" The cashier smiled and input the orders before announcing the total.

"Right, that comes to $28.55," the ravenette smiled, pulling out his card to pay. Felix made a squeaking sound as he rushed to pull out money but the taller male stopped him.

"No, no. Don't worry about it, it's my shout." the kind, dark haired male smiled warmly at Felix before handing his membership card to the cashier so that he could scan it before the stranger payed for the orders with the membership discount. Felix didn't know why, but the stranger's smile left him feeling completely at ease, as if he had known him is whole life. Maybe it was simply because the older had rescued him from his himself? Or maybe it was his innocent, goofy, bunny-like smile that had Felix's heart melting and his usually thorny vine covered wall collapsing instantly.

Once he was finished paying, he led a lightly trembling Felix to an empty booth and sat across from the red head. The chairs at the booths were Felix's personal favourites. They had red leather cushioning and were made with pale coloured wood which worked in nicedly with the comfy, safe vibe and aesthetic of the café.

"So, are you alone?" the male asked curiosly. Felix regarded the taller boy suspiciously. That was a strange thing to ask right away, wasn't it? The ebony haired male noticed Felix's discomfort and face palmed playfully. "Sorry! I forgot to introduce myself," the stranger entended his hand and gave the red head a bunny-toothed grin. "The name's Jungkook. What's yours?"

Felix found himself shaking the energetic boy's hand eagerly. He pushed past his residule anxiety, relaxing further with Jungkook's genuine and friendly demeanour.

"Uh-um... I'm Felix," Jungkook's grin widened, stretching across half of his face at the red head's response. "Uh, do I call you hyung or are you- I mean- I don't want to be rude but you look older than me," Felix's eyes widened. Stupid! How could he phrase everything so rudely? It was just supposed to be a simple question. He began to apologise profusely for being rude but the ebony haired boy just dismissed his apologies with a wave of his hand. His eyes sparkled with mirth as he grabbed Felix's hands that were resting on the table and uncurled them so that the latter was no longer digging his nails into his palms. He flattened the red head's hands out and faced the palms upwards so that he could draw calming patterns on Felix's hands to calm him. Jungkook noted the anxiety bubbling behind the boy's eyes as he watched him trace the lines on his hands slowly.

"It's alright, Felix. I am the maknae in my group, so it is nice to be seen as someone older. My friends all baby me because I am the youngest," he laughed and Felix smiled. Jungkook found it cute how the smile crinkled the red head boy's eyes slightly into happy crescent moons. "I'm twenty one by the way," he added so that the other would know whether to call him hyung or not.

"I am 18, hyung," Felix continued to smile at the older boy, feeling completely calm and safe now. "I am a child of September. Actually, my best friend and I are basically twins," Felix gushed while Jungkook watched with adoration already settling into his heart for the boy he just met. He didn't have any dongsaengs of his own, but hopefully Felix could be his. "We were born literally a day a part!"

"That is so cool!" Jungkook exclaimed. "I was also born in September!"

"Oh really?" Felix clapped his hands together excitedly. "Which day?"

"The first," Jungkook responded immediately.

"Oh dang! I was born on the 15th," they both smiled at each other, just the simple fact that they were both born in September was amazing in their minds.

"So," Jungkook decided to ask what he had been dying to know since he had observed the boy almost having a full on panic attack earlier. "What sparked your anxiety?" He decided to word his question differently and focus on a different factor he was curious about as the boy was obviously alone, otherwise someone would have approached them in the five minutes that had just spent talking.

Felix frowned and looked out the window. "I don't know," the boy lied. Jungkook's lips were tugged downwards into a frown at the blatant lie.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he whispered. He didn't want to pressure Felix into giving him an answer.

Felix inhaled sharply before meeting his eyes. "No, it's fine. I want to tell you, hyung... just don't make fun of me please," the younger boy ducked his head as he spoke after Junkook's promise to respect him no matter what. "I get really bad anxiety when I'm in crowds and I usually have panic attacks unless I have my friends with me. But today, I wanted to walk to this café by myself and order my own meal," Felix paused, his eyes settling on the busy street outside the window. Jungkook remained silent, waiting for the boy to continue. "Well, I made it here just fine," Felix smiled at the ebony haired boy but it didn't reach his eyes. "I just panicked when I had to order and I guess I just froze up... I don't know," The taller male stood from his seat and moved beside the red head so that he could hug him.

"How come your friends didn't wait for you here in case something like that happened?" Jungkook asked, concern eating at him. If they knew that Felix was this bad, then why weren't they here to support him?

Felix looked sheepishly at the ravenette. "They don't know I left. Well, one of them does, but I didn't tell him where I was going," The older boy pulled away from the red haired boy in surprise.

"How come only one of them knows?" Jungkook regretted the question the second he blurted it out. A storm cloud of anger and sadness darkened Felix's features, self-loathing reflected in the younger's eyes like strikes of lighting.

"The others were _busy_," the weight of that single word sent a shiver down the ravenette's spine. Whatever that word entailed for the younger, it wasn't anything good.

"Oh, okay," the red head shrugged at Jungkook's reaction.

"It's fine. I'm used to it," Jungkook felt a spear pierce his heart at this comment. It was not fine. Whatever Felix was "_used to_", it was hurting him in some way.

"It's okay if you're not," The ravenette whispered, pulling the red haired boy into another hug.

"If I'm not what, hyung?" The boy queried.

"It's okay if you are not fine. It's okay if you are not used to it," Jungkook clarified. Felix's loose grip around the older tightened, causing a muffled 'thank you' to barely reach Jungkook's ears. He rubbed comforting circles on the younger's back as he attempted to hide his tears.   
A waiter walked over and placed their orders on the table. She threw a concerned glance at the sobbing boy in Jungkook's arms and but he quietly assured her that everything was fine and she left. Jungkook eventually coaxed Felix to look at him. He wiped away the last of the younger's tears before indicating to his food. Felix's eyes immediately lit up as he moved over and began to eat.

They talked about random things to learn more about each other while they finished eating their food and drinking their drinks. They continued to talk well after they finished, choosing to order another drink when the waitress said that they couldn't stay for too long once they finished. They continued to talk until Jungkook recieved a call from his hyungs.

"I'm sorry, Lixie, but I have to go now. My hyungs want to go out to the arcade and go to a restuarant near our place for dinner tonight."

"That's okay, hyung. I should head back home anyway. I've been gone for a few hours, Seungmin is probably worried," Felix smiled, but sadness tinged his expression and Jungkook frowned.

"I can walk you home, if you want. I don't mind," Felix shook his head quickly.

"N-no, no. It's fine. I will be fine," The younger released an anxious breath as he gazed out the window at the darkening street, which had only gotten busier as the afternoon had progressed. The older chewed on the inside of his cheek and decided that he would not allow the boy to walk alone.

He stood, pulling Felix up with him by the wrist. The waitress approached them with a smile. "I hope you both enjoyed your meals, please feel free to come back at any time," both boys thanked her before leaving the café. Jungkook slipped his arm around Felix's waist and held him close before turning to the boy. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"Hyung, you don't have to do this. I can do it by myself," Jungkook dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

"It's fine, Lixie, I want to walk with you," A flutter of warmth in erupted in Felix's chest. It felt amazing to have someone care enough to want to make sure Felix got home safely, but a darker side of Felix's mind- a side he tried to ignore - was tryning to convince him that Jungkook's concern and time was being wasted on him; That he wasn't worthy of the older boy's kind words and heart.

"Thank you, hyung." Felix whispered. The ravenette nodded before guiding the smaller boy into the crowd cautiously. He tried to avoid the more crowded spots and when he noticed Felix shaking particularly violently, he moved off to the side out of the constant movement and pressure of bodies.

"You okay, Lixie?" Jungkook stared into the younger's eyes, checking for the distant glazed look his eyes had while he was panicking in the café. Jungkook exhaled in relief when the boy gave him a shaky smile and met his stare with clear eyes.

"I'm alright, _kookie _hyung," Felix giggled as he tried out Jungkook's nickname. The ravenette grinned before leading the boy back out onto the path. They walked in comfortable silence, Felix focusing on the small circles Jungkook was tracing against his hip instead of the people around them and Jungkook focusing on getting Felix home safely.

When Felix announced that they were near the house he shared with his friends, the boys slowed down, unwilling to separate just yet. They hugged tightly for several long second before parting. "Oh!" the older exclaimed as an idea sparkled in his brown eyes. "Do you want my number, so that we can hang out again?" Felix nodded, eagerly fishing his phone out of his pocket before handing it to Jungkook.

"Of course, hyung!" Jungkook was surprised when he turned on the phone to see not only that the red haired boy had subtly unlocked his phone via fingerprint but also that he had more than a dozen unseen messages and missed calls.

"Uuhhh, Lixie?" The younger hummed absentmindedly while staring down the street. "Have you checked your phone recently?" Felix snapped his attention to the ravenette immediately.

"What do you mean?" He reached for the phone, concerned that it had a crack or a virus or something, but when he saw the amount of missed calls and messages, Felix paled and thought that this was worse than a crack or a virus. He checked the first lot of messages and compared them to the current time. He gasped in shock, it had been almost three hours since the first unseen message. "Well... I'm dead," he glanced up at the house, shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously as his mind raced. He relaxed slightly as Jungkook pulled him into another hugged and muttered comforting words to him.

As they parted again, the ravenette snatched up the phone and added his number before handing it back to the younger boy whom he had grown fond of despite only knowing him for a few hours. Felix laughed as he read the contact name he had set for himself.

**KOOKIE HY❤NG🐰👑**

Felix's brow furrowed in confusion as he read two new contacts he didn't recognise. "Uh, hyung? Who are these people?"

"Oh, they are my hyungs. Jin and Namjoon. They are really nice and if you ever need someone other than me to talk to or you need someone to get you away from here or anything, my hyungs will always be willing to help."

"But I haven't even met them!?"

"It's fine, Lixie. They will be fine with it," Jungkook smiled at the red haired boy. He felt happy seeing the smaller boy genuinely smile. He loved the crescents of his eyes as he grinned or laughed. Jungkook ruffled Felix's hair fondly. "Stay safe, Lixie. Remember to message me or my hyungs anytime you need anything. Even if it is just someone to talk to or cuddle with or to help you work on walking alone in crowds or-"

"You'd do that?" Jungkook smiled at the pure reaction he recieved from the red head. Felix hugged Jungkook as he nodded.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He pulled away, the biggest grin gracing his features, melting Jungkook's heart. "You don't understand ghow much that means to me, hyung! None of my friends have ever offered to do that. They just always come out with me," The ravenette smiled despite the annoyance that flashed through his veins at the younger boy's admittance. Had his friends seriously not offered to help him solve his problem so he could be more independent?

"Well, Felix, I promise you, my hyungs and I will definitely help you overcome your anxiety. Just let us know when you want to try and we will be here for you. I am sorry that I have to go now, but goodbye, Lixie."

"Goodbye, kookie hyung. Thank you," Felix smiled as he watched Jungkook's retreating form. He sighed, genuine happiness fluttering about in his chest excitedly. He had walked out this door in a terrible mood and now here he was entering through the very same doorway feeling lighter than he had in months. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers! I am still sick and have fallen behind in school work. This chapter is unedited. I hope you don't mind that I included Jungkook in this. I really want to set the vibe that at this point in the time line, the other members of SKZ are kind of jerks, I suppose. I also wanted to elaborate on the scene in the Prologue where Felix panics while in a crowd. I also have some tension planned that I needed some outsiders for to build. By outsiders I mean people who aren't a part of SKZ. I also wanted to explore JK in a situation where he is the hyung. I read so many fics where he is obviously the maknae, so I wanted to try this. I hope this was alright and that you are okay with BTS members helping Felix out.


	3. CHAPTER TWO

_4 months earlier..._

Felix walked inside the house with a sigh. It was deadly silent as he locked the door. He glanced around nervously. Where was everyone? He stepped into the kitchen, planning on grabbing a cheese stick from the fridge to eat. He rummaged through the fridge before grumbling in annoyance.   
"Of course there's no cheese sticks," he frowned and shut the fridge door harder than necessary before stomping into the lounge room, flopping down onto the four-seater couch while extracting his phone from his back pocket in his jeans.

\------------------------------------------------------

5:19pm  
**KOOKIE HY❤NG🐰👑**  
_Did you make it home alright?_

Read 5:22pm

5:22pm  
**Me**  
_Yes, hyung. Thank you for checking up on me_

_No one is home_

_And there are no cheese sticks!_

Seen 5:23pm

5:23pm  
**KOOKIE HY❤NG🐰👑**  
_You're welcome, Lixie_

_At least you don't have to deal with their questions for now..._

_That sounds devastating! Want me to buy you some cheese sticks and bring them over for you?_

Read 5:24pm

5:24pm  
**Me**  
_True..._

_Yes please hyung! TYSM! 💖💜💖💜💖💜❤❤❤❤❤💙💞💗💞_

Seen 5:24pm

5:25pm  
**KOOKIE HY❤NG🐰👑**  
**😂😂😂**

_Jiminie and I are on our way_

Read 5:25pm

5:25pm  
**Me**  
_Thank you hyungs_

Unseen

\------------------------------------------------------

Felix placed his phone on the table beside him, a large grin splitting his face. He jumped up and danced his way excitedly to his room. He searched his wardrobe for something casual to wear. He hummed in satisfaction as he located his grey sweatpants and his large black T-shirt.

He made his way towards the bathroom with his clothes in hand. He had decided that taking a shower would be the best option while he waited. The red haired boy undressed while he waited for the water to heat up before stepping into the stream of clear water. He exhaled slowly as all of the tension from the day left him, washed away by the small jets massaging his muscles.

After cleaning himself, Felix remained standing in the shower for a few extra moments before stepping out, enjoying the sound of the water cascading over his body and falling onto the tiled shower floor. He dried himself quickly, dressing in his clothes before leaving the bathroom.

He made his way back to his room and sighed as he stared at Seungmin's empty bed. His friend had been upset when he had returned the other month after not responding for three hours. But somehow not as upset as Chan and Woojin.

**FLASHBACK **   
_Felix stepped inside nervously. He was still abuzz with joy thanks to Jungkook, but knowing that he had missed dozens of texts and calls from all of his friends he felt anxious about what their reaction to his return would be. He closed the door and moved quietly towards the lounge room. Four heads turned in his direction, each face holding a different emotion upon seeing him. Anger, relief, pity, annoyance._

_Minho glared at him furiously, his eyes almost black with rage. However, his dark haired hyung did not utter a word._

_"Where were you?" Chan's relief at Felix's return was evident in his voice despite the elder's attempt to hide it behind a firm tone and stance. Felix wanted to laugh at how much the blond looked like an annoyed parent with his arms crossed and stern stare. Woojin stood beside Chan with the same stance but with the addition of a more peeved expression and clear intolerance for any crap__,_ _which only served to be disconcerting as the older boy usuually maintained a calm appearance no matter what._

_"I was out."_

_"Out where?" the eldest grit out as if it pained him to keep his tone civil. It was unusual for Woojin to be so curt or plainly pissed off and it was beginning to unnerve the red head._

_"The café," he responded, uncertainty wavering through his voice._

_"Oh, and what were you doing at the café by yourself for three hours?" Woojin's voice was harsh. Chan glanced at the older boy in surprise and touched his arm gently. The brunette gave the blond an appraising look before softening his features and apologising to the trembling red haired teen before him. "Sorry, Lixie. I was just so worried about you. We looked everywhere for you- well obviously not everywhere because it turns out you were at the café," the boy who resembled a bear chuckled awkwardly while the blond beside him smiled fondly up at him._

_"Felix," Felix muttered, dropping his gaze to the floor._

_"Huh? Sorry I didn't hear you properly," Felix met Seungmin's sad stare apologetically before he straightened his posture and met Woojin's curious gaze._

_"I said, it's Felix." _   
**END FLASHBACK**

Felix left his bedroom as his ring tone echoed through the silent house. He picked up the phone and answered eagerly when he saw Jungkook's contact name shining brightly through his screen.

"Hey hyung!"

"Hey Lix! We're outside if you want to let us in?"

"Sure thing, hyung." Felix hung up the phone and rushed excitedly to let Jungkook and Jimin inside. He swung the door open wide with a welcoming smile which morphed into a grateful grin at the sight of a bag full of cheesesticks.

"OH MY GOSH, HYUNGS! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" The taller boys smiled fondly at the younger who was excitedly ushering them inside. They followed the energetic boy into the kitchen and handed him the bag.

"Here you are, Lixie," Jungkook glanced at Jimin, his heart warming at Felix's genuine joy at receiving cheese sticks. It always surprised the ravenette how genuine the red haired boy's expressions were.

"You bought so much! You shouldn't have!"

"Well if you don't want them then we will just take them back,"Jimin shrugged as he picked up the bag. Felix looked up at them with a pout. Both boys suppressed coos at how cute their dongsaeng looked and made it look like they were going to leave.

"Hyuuuuungs!" They struggled to hide their smiles as they turned back around at Felix's whine.

"Yes?" Jungkook asked innocently.

"I wasn't saying I didn't want them," the red haired boy stared at the floor in embarrassment. "I-I just- well I..."

"It's okay, Lix," Jimin murmured as he approached and embraced the disheartened boy. "We're just teasing,"   
Jungkook placed the bag on the counter again before placing his hand on Felix's cheek, brushing his fingers over his freckles, completely in awe of how well they suited the boy, before slipping his fingers under his chin and tilting his head up. He exhaled slowly as he saw Felix's teary eyes. He was aware that the past two months had been difficult for the red haired boy, despite the younger's attempts to hide it.

Jungkook bristled as he thought about the phone call he had received the very same night he had met Felix. The boy had called him in tears. He refused to explain why or elaborate on what had happened when he returned home. All he said was that he had fucked up and everyone hated him. That night, Jungkook and his hyungs had left the arcade early to search for Felix who had run from the house in response to whatever had transpired after Jungkook had left. Even two months later the boy refused to enlighten him or his friends on what happened- even though they had found him several blocks from his house, bruised and sobbing. They took him back to their place that night and didn't let him return home until a week had passed and he received the okay from Seungmin that everything was under control.

"We would never get mad over that, Lixie," Junkook hugged the boy and Jimin close. He pulled away and clapped his hands together. "Now, wipe away those tears and let's eat some cheesesticks!" The red head immediately perked up, his face brightening. He wiped away his tears and eagerly raced towards the bag.

Jungkook met Jimin's fond stare. "What?" He whispered.

"Nothing. It's just cute watching you with him. You suit being a hyung. But you're still my little Kookie," Jimin teased the younger while the brunette simply rolled his eyes before following Felix.

They each ate a few cheese sticks while discussing random things that they hadn't spoken about during their two hour long conversation at the café barely half an hour ago.

"Did you know there are over 50 million people willing to storm area 51?" Felix announced as he continued to scroll through Instagram on his phone. Jimin glanced up from his cheese stick which he had been peeling into strips in surprise.

"Really?" Jungkook sighed heavily as the two began to discuss if 50 million people could actually make it into Area 51 and what they would do if they got the aliens out. The ravenette glanced around the room, finally taking in the scenery. He turned his head so that he could look at the lounge room adjacent to them and admired how tidy the area was. From what he had seen, Felix and his friends kept the place tidy despite so many of them living in the same space. His brow furrowed as he realised that the house was completely devoid of sound despite the two talking beside him.

"Hey Lixie? Where are you're roommates and Seungmin?" He asked, interrupting Jimin who glared at him for a millisecond before turning to Felix with wide curious eyes.

"I, uh, I dunno," the red head replied nervously. He played with his fingers anxiously as he spoke. "I came home and no one was here. And no one left a note or messaged me so I have no clue where they are," Jungkook nodded and looked down at his hands. Were things really still that bad between the younger and his friends that they didn't even let him know where they were?

"Ah, well, perhaps you could show us your room then?" Jimin smiled at Felix as the red head nodded and began to lead the way. They followed him slowly, curious.

"Well, this is it. It isn't much, but it works," the red head moved confidently into the room and flopped down onto his bed with a heavy sigh. Jungkook and Jimin sat on the edge of the bed and stared behind them at the sad boy who was staring at the empty bed across from his. "That's Seungmin's bed," Jungkook snapped his attention to the well made bed.

"He's the one who isn't mad at you, right?" Jimin queried. He wasn't as privy to the details of Felix's life as Jungkook. The red haired boy shrugged sadly before whining and trying to pull both boys down beside him. They knew Felix was quite clingy and enjoyed cuddling from when he stayed with them last month and their other shorter interactions and so eagerly obliged the boy with their physical presence.

Jimin moved until his back was pressed against the wall and Felix was snuggled between him and Jungkook, while the ebony haired male focused on running his hands through younger's hair comfortingly. "What happened?" He whispered softly. He wasn't expecting an answer, just another shrug and silence, however, he was pleasantly surprised when Felix began to speak.

"I'm not sure kookie hyung. Ever since Monday Seungminnie has been sleeping in Jeongin's room and barely speaks to me. I don't know what I did. I just woke up Monday and he was gone and now..." Felix's voice cracked and tears threatened to spill from his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and refused to cry as his hyungs comforted him.

Unbeknownst to Felix, the ravenette and brunette were having a silent conversation, their eyes conveying their thoughts to each other. The boys lulled Felix to sleep and only left when they were sure that they wouldn't disturb him from his sleep.

They snuck out of the room, closed the door and made their way out to the kitchen. They put the cheese sticks in the fridge so that they wouldn't melt and left. As they drove away, Jungkook sent Felix a quick text to let him know that they had left while no one was there. He hoped that the message wouldn't wake the boy.

Felix stirred in his sleep slightly but did not wake as his dreams shifted to a memory.

**FLASHBACK**   
_"What?"Chan asked confused. "What do you mean?" He glanced at an equally confused Woojin. Felix sighed heavily, his mind made up as he spoke his next words tiredly._

_"My name is Felix. Call me by that. Not Lixie," Silence reigned over the room_ _as the two older members stared at him, jaws slack. Felix stepped backwards ready to leave when Chan spoke up again._

_"W-what? Why? Lixie? What happened?" The older blond looked as if he had been slapped. His brown eyes resembled a kicked puppy's as Felix snapped at him._

_"I said it's Felix! You don't get to call me Lixie! None of you do!"_

_Felix met Seungmin's sad stare with bewilderment as Minho shot up from the couch and stormed towards_ him. _The dark haired boy grabbed him harshly by the collar of his shirt and shook him roughly as he __growled at the red head, eyes roiling with unbridled rage._

_"We are your hyungs! Show some respect you brat! You don't just get to leave this house and-" Felix glared at his ebony haired hyung. He sneered as he interrupted him._

_"Oh, so, what, I'm just supposed to stay locked up in this house? What am I? Some Disney princess?"_

_"Watch your mouth, kid," Minho snarled at Felix. "You made us run around and look for your worthless ass while you just relaxed at the café!" Felix flinched. An unfamiliar emotion teared at his heart like a wolf with a deer carcass._

_"Minho," Chan's stern voice cut through the tense silence, a verbal red flashing light warning of danger._

_The red haired boy's eyes betrayed his pain for a millisecond before he hid it behind a scathing expression and a snarky remark._

_"Oh, sorry, Mother Gothel! I promise I won't leave the tower again!" It seemed this comment was a step too far over the line because one second Felix was glaring at the ravenette and the next his head was snapping back without his control. The red head stumbled back, a hand immediately coming up to his jaw where his hyung had punched him. His wide eyes filled with tears and betrayal as Chan and Woojin rushed forward with bewildered and angered yells to hold back a furious Minho. However, the dark haired boy evaded them and he yanked Felix towards him before throwing him to the floor in one fluid violent motion. Felix cried out, agony flashing burning hot through him as his back smashed in the edge of the couch, narrowly missing his spine. His head, was not so lucky as it cracked against the coffee table. Searing pain set his cheek ablaze._

_Chan and Woojin finally managed to restrain the enraged ravenette as a muffled whimper escaped Felix._

_Seungmin glared at the dark haired boy before rushing towards his injured friend, concern forcing his brows close together. The red head flinched away from him before he scrambled up and bolted out of the house with tears streaming down his pale face._

_Felix ran down the streets, weaving in and out of people haphazardly. He ran until the crowds thinned and he could no longer recognise where he was._

_He glanced around, anxiety flaring deep in his stomach, stirring the contents in his gut uncomfortably. He was in a run down area with few street lights. The sun was almost gone behind the tall buildings of the city in the distance. He gulped, swallowing a hiccup as he walked jerkily forward. He stopped and glanced back, considering the option of trying to retrace his steps. He stared down the unfamiliar path. He didn't even remember coming up this way._

_His anxiety began to boil, rising to his chest where it constricted his breathing. He stumbled forward and shakily walked down the path in the direction he had come. His vision swirled with silhouettes and dull lights until he could no longer distinguish anything. He tripped and collapsed heavily on his legs awkwardly causing them to pop and crack as they strained under his weight. Felix's body convulsed with violent tremors as his breathing shallowed into harsh stuttering exhales and hitched inhales while tears flowed freely down his face, burning where his skin had split before dripping off of his chin onto his grazed knees._

_The red haired boy struggled to reign in his anxiety and despair as he continued to sit on the edge of the path with thoughts running rampant through his mind. He choked on a sob and coughed until his throat was dry and his chest ached. He was pathetic. He was useless. He was worthless. Minho was right. He was a complete waste of space who didn't deserve anyone or anything. He deserved this. This pain. Minho's hatred. Chan's hatred. Woojin's hatred. He deserved to be alone. He was a terrible person- a terrible friend. How could he be so selfish and inconsiderate to his friends? To make them worry about his worthless ass unnecessarily?_

_With shaking legs he stood. He stumbled towards the road where almost constant traffic was passing. He stood at the curb, staring out dully as hateful thoughts urged him forward. His teary eyes barely registered the bright lights or the sound of the engine. His body moved forward of its own accord. _   
**END FLASHBACK**

Felix woke up in a sweat. His body trembled with phantom pain. He sat up with a shaky exhale and glanced around the room, assuring himself that he was fine. His eyes landed on a familiar brunette staring at him blankly from his spot on the edge of his own bed.

"Seungmin? You're back?" Felix asked. His voice was deep and rough from just waking up, his throat slightly dry. The brunette nodded, staring at Felix silently, eyes swirling with emotions the red head couldn't decipher. "Are the others back as well?" He inquired. Again, he was met with a wordless nod.

He swallowed slowly, suddenly uncomfortable. The air was thick with tension as Seungmin stared at the red head in silence. Felix shifted nervously as the brunette continued to blink at him without a word. Just as he was about to speak, Seungmin shattered the silence with a statement devoid of any emotion.

"You seem to be going out alone a lot lately," Felix flickered his gaze up from his hands to meet the brunette's blank brown eyes. The silence strangled Felix as he struggled to work out how to respond. "Are you seeing that boy you walked home with two months ago?" Felix's jaw went slack and his eyes widened. How did Seungmin know about Jungkook? He hadn't told anyone about him.

"W-w-what?" Felix sputtered out. The brunette sighed heavily, his face cautiously blank of all emotions.

"I saw you walking with him. I saw you hug him... smile at him. The way you looked at him," the brunette paused, pain flickering across his features before he smothered it with a stony expression. "Even from my window I could see it. That stupid loyal admiration and trust you used to look at Minho with. I could see how close you and him were, as if you had both known each other for your whole lives. But you couldn't have... you would have told me about him, right?" Felix opened his mouth to answer but was cut off as Seungmin chuckled bitterly. "But then, you haven't uttered a word about him at all. You just disappear for hours at a time before returning as if nothing happened. As if you aren't leaving this house _alone. _Alone. You couldn't even look at a large crowd without freaking out but now you can just go off on your own?" Felix felt scolded and upset at first as Seungmin bit out his words, but when he chanced a glance up at the brunette, he saw a familiar despair and confusion dancing across the boy's face. "And even worse, that day, you suddenly decided that none of us could call you Lixie anymore. I thought you meant everyone," Felix's heart broke a little as Seungmin's voice cracked and his bottom lip quivered. "B-but," the boy inhaled shakily before continuing. "But then I saw your messages. I-I didn't mean to," Seungmin quickly held up his hands and rushed to rectify how bad he had made himself sound. He didn't notice Felix tense, becoming as still as a statue as anxiety prickled at his insides.

"It was Monday night. I woke up- I don't really know why. But when I rolled over, I noticed that your phone screen was flashing brightly near your face. I was going to ignore it because the screen went black a few seconds later. But then it lit up again. I was afraid that the light would wake you up..." the boy paused, inhaling sharply as he visibly collected his thoughts. "I only meant to flip your phone over, but another message came through just as I picked up your phone," the brunette met Felix's fearful stare with sad eyes. "A person I didn't recognise had texted you. But what really caught my attention was the fact that they were calling you Lixie. It hurt, Felix. I felt like someone had stabbed me and you were twisting the knife- like I was the butt end of some horrible joke and I was just the ignorant fool. I was so mad, Felix. I wanted to scream and cry, I wanted to wake you up and demand that you explain why th-this stranger could call you Lixie, but I couldn't. Me, who was your best friend..." Felix sat in shocked silence as Seungmin began to sob uncontrollably.

This was not what Felix had expected. Not at all. He was certain the boy just couldn't stand him anymore, but it turned out he had just hurt his best friend. Why was he such and awful friend? Why had the car swerved around him? He deserved to be hit that night. It would have saved everyone so much hassle. A voice in his head scoffed at him. He was pathetic. Constantly hassling Jungkook and his friends because he was too useless to just do things like a normal person. He was a worthless asshole who had hurt Seungmin for no reason.

"I'm sorry," Felix whispered. He stared at his clenched fists, his knuckles whiter than paper as his nails dug into his palms.

"S-stop it!" Seungmin choked out. Felix glanced up, confused, but found himself being tackled to the bed in a tight hug with a sobbing boy pushing himself as close to the red head as physically possible. "Stop. Please stop."

"I'm not doing anything," Felix muttered emptily as shock settled into his bones and the voice inside his mind hurled cruel truths at him.

"Yes you are,"Seungmin's voice was muffled as he whispered brokenly into his neck. Felix shuddered as the boy's breath washed over his sensitive skin. "You are thinking stupid thoughts! I know that look and I hate it! It's the same look you get when you believe the lies your brain is trying to make you believe- when you believe what Minho said. I hate it! Ever since _that_ day, you have this look so much. Don't hate yourself, Lix- Felix."

"I'm sorry," the red head mumbled as regret twanged through him. He had made Seungmin cry. How awful was he? He just can't seem to stop hurting his friends. What a worthless waste of oxygen was he?

"Stop it! You're still thinking it!" Seungmin glared at Felix with tear filled eyes. A part of Felix, a part he only felt with Jungkook since _that _day, battled to surface, to gain control over the overwhelming thoughts. As Seungmin hugged him harder and pressed himself even closer to the red haired boy, that part of Felix won and the boy flung his previously limp arms around his friend just as tightly as the other's arms were around him.

Seungmin lifted his head and blinked at him with a pleased smile. "Lixie," he breathed before pressing his lips to the boy's jaw where a faint bruise still marked the skin, a reminder of Minho's lost temper and Felix's change in behaviour. "What did we do wrong?" Felix blinked in surprise. He felt like his friend had surprised him more in five minutes than he ever had over the two years he had known him. He didn't even realise Seungmin had called him Lixie instead of Felix, too shocked by the brunette's question to notice.

"What do you mean?" He asked, angling his head so that he could meet Seungmin's solemn stare.

"You..." the brunette seemed lost for words. His face contorted with concentration as he struggled to piece together the right words to get across his intended meaning. "You ignored us for three hours and then you came home a different person. You said that we couldn't call you Lixie anymore. Why? And why can that Kookie hyung call you it? Who is he?" Felix pursed his lips, contemplating how and if he should answer Seungmin's queries. He decided that he missed his roommate and friend, missed having someone to talk to in the house. Sure, Jungkook, Jimin, Namjoon and the others were great. Hell, they were amazing! They helped him assimilate into their group easily and eagerly gave him refuge and advice while including him in their daily shenanigans. But he didn't live with them.

"I didn't mean to ignore you. Well, not to start with. I missed your message that said that they were done,"Felix smiled sheepishly before continuing. "I turned my phone on silent but became distracted... I-"

"The Kookie hyung?" Seungmin offered. His expression clearly hurt when Felix nodded.

"Yeah... Hyung and I were just talking so much and then before we knew it, three hours had passed. The only reason we even left the café when we did was because Joonie hyung called Kookie because he and the others wanted to have dinner and hang out at the arcade," Seungmin tensed in Felix's arms.

"Others? Whose Joonie hyung?" Felix heaved a heavy sigh.

"He is the leader of the group, I guess. Namjoon and Jin hyung try to keep everyone under control... although," Felix snickered as memories flashed at the forefront of his mind. "Jin hyung doesn't exactly always _help_ Namjoon. It's cute though. Hyung always acts annoyed with Jinnie hyung but he is so whipped-" Felix stopped when he saw Seungmin frown with not only confusion but also growing sadness. He decided it best to move away from that topic. "The others are the rest of the group. Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok, and Yoongi hyung. They have been really kind. They were the ones who let me stay with them after Minho..." Seungmin's eyes flashed with anger at the mention of Minho and that day. "When I came back from the café, Kookie hyung walked me home because he didn't want me to have another panic attack and-"

"Another?!" The brunette snapped his gaze up sharply to stare into Felix's eyes as if he could read the past in them. 

"Yeah," Felix muttered, embarrassment dusting his cheeks a bright pink. "I freaked out in the café when the cashier called me up to order. Thankfully, Jungkookie hyung was there and he helped me out. He calmed me down and ordered for me and was just super kind. He is the maknae of his group, you know? Anyway... When I walked in, I didn't originally plan to change what you guys could call me, but when Woojin spoke to me like that... I don't know," Felix drove his fingers anxiously through his hair. "Jungkook hyung just- he was so willing to help me work on anxiety in crowds and such and you guys have never offered to do that and I was feeling a little hurt by that and then just seeing how Minho looked at me, followed by Woojin being so mad... I was mad. And... Now everyone hates me and I never meant for any of this to happen. Please forgive me, Seungminnie!" Felix threw his arms around the boy once more and squeezed his eyes shut, unable to bear seeing the brunette's expression.

"Hey, hey, Felix. Look at me," the red head cracked his eyes open and saw that his friend was smiling softly. "No one hates you and I forgive you. Can I call you Lixie? Or do I still ha-"

"Yes! Yes!" Although residual sadness and thousands of questions continued to swirl in Seungmin's brown eyes, his smile was bright as he hugged Felix close.

"Good. Because you are my Lixie and I really don't like not being allowed to call you so," Felix laughed at his friend's words. It felt good to be able to hear Seungmin being jokingly possessive and overly dramatic again.

The red head pushed the boy off himself onto the other side of his bed and grinned at the brunette's indignant squeak. "You've gotten stronger?" Felix frowned as the familiar sadness from before crawled down Seungmin's words.

"I-uh yeah. I guess so? Jiminie and Kookie hyung convinced me to go to the gym with them a few times," Felix chuckled nervously. "They always bribe me with food, I swear my hyungs are demons disguised as angels. Because only a truly evil creature would do the workouts they do. Although," Felix's eyes grew distant as a dreamy expression made its way onto his face without him realising. "It explains why Jungkook hyung is so- well... muscly. I mean, wow. He has really big muscles. Bigger than Chan and Changbin!" Seungmin feigned a smile as Felix's eyes cleared and he grinned at him with childlike excitement. "He is so strong, Minnie! He can carry even Namjoon hyung! I bet he could easily carry Woojin or Chan or Hyunjin," Seungmin nodded absentmindedly, staring at Felix with an undecipherable emotion. "What?" Felix asked as he was met with silence.

"You seem so happy talking about them..." Felix tilted his head, puzzled by what his friend was attempting to convey. "I just hate that, that day ruined everything between us and now you have better friends."

"W-what! No, that's not it! Seungmin, I promise you, they aren't better than you i-" the red head rushed to make the brunette feel better, but the younger sat up and interrupted him.

"Felix," the older boy flinched at his friend's stern voice. "It's fine. They are better than any of us in this house. I am honestly ashamed. They are helping you with your anxiety unlike us who just enabled it. They are making you smile, unlike us who have you thinking terrible thoughts. They are good friends. They are good for you, Lixie..." the brunette trailed off as sadness tinged his words a deep blue. The red head opened his mouth to rebut the brunette's statement but nothing except carbon dioxide escaped his parted lips. He stared silently at his reflection in his best friend's solemn eyes. Seungmin smiled a bitter smile as if he expected the silence.

"It's okay, Felix. I want to see you treated right. You deserve it. You deserve them. It just hurts that we- I was too self-absorbed to even think of helping you find a solution to your anxiety," the older boy nodded jerkily before staring awkwardly at his hands resting in his lap. The silence which reigned over their room was suffocating.

"I-uh-I..." Felix began but quickly trailed off as he glanced to the side and failed to think of something to say.

"Do you want to eat something? I can cook up some pancakes if you like?" Felix glanced up at the brunette with a grin, instantly forgetting about the weighty discussion that just took place.

"Yes, please!" Seungmin smiled, pleased by his friend's joy. He wiggled off the bed and walked out of the room with the red head eagerly following behind him.

Felix leaned against the counter in the kitchen watching Seungmin collect the required ingredients to make pancakes. His eyes followed his friend eagerly. "Do you want me to help you?" He asked. Happiness danced through Felix. He and Seungmin were good again and he felt better than he had in weeks. It seemed impossible to feel as happy as he did now.

"Oh, yes! We can make them like last time!" The brunette flashed Felix a bright grin before ducking down to search the cupboard for a mixing bowl. "Could you grab my phone from the lounge room, please? We can look up a recipe to follow using it," The red head nodded before walking into the lounge room to search for Seungmin's phone.

"Where'd you leave it?" He shouted as he quickly glanced around the space, blatantly ignoring a particular dark haired hyung occupying the couch across from him.

"Uuhhh... maybe beside the couch?" Felix sighed at the boy's uncertain response but before he could move, his eyes met Minho's hard stare. Felix unconsciously tensed when he glanced down and saw that the boy was holding his phone. The red head dragged his eyes up to Minho's before forcing words to push past the lump in his throat. He ignored the trembling in his hands as his anxiety spiked. Why was Minho on his phone? How did he get Felix's phone?

"Why do you have my phone?" Felix's voice was small and shaky as he forced himself to maintain eye contact with his hyung.

"Who is _Kookie hyung_? And why does he have a heart emoji?" Minho queried bluntly, ignoring the red head's question. Felix just stared at the ravenette in disbelief. He went through his phone?!

"You went through my phone?" Felix meant to sound chastising but his voice squeaked out past his teeth. Embarrassment painted his cheeks as red as his hair.

"Who is he?!" Minho yelled, his eyes searing Felix's skin. Felix flinched and shrunk into himself. His breathing shallowed and quickened. His body trembled violently.

"I-I-well-he..." Felix barely stuttered out a mess of words before Minho was leaping off the couch and grabbing Felix's shirt roughly.

"Who the hell is he?" The boy seethed out between his clenched teeth. The red head's lower lip trembled and his chin quivered as his mind kept flashing vivid images from _that _day into the forefront of his mind. He felt white hot and freezing cold pains shoot through his skull and up his spine simultaneously as the memories crashed into him like a tidal wave. Minho was going to hurt him. His brain screamed at him to get away. Get away before the same thing as what happened _that _day happened again. But his body refused to listen. It shook and trembled harder than a scale 5 earthquake. Felix found he couldn't breath, Minho's hand scrunching his shirt was too close to his throat, too close to his closing windpipe. His frantic mind hurled the memories of him being hit and thrown by his once beloved and trusted hyung in a panicked attempt to motivate him. Unfortunately, it did the opposite and he found his surroundings blurring, his body growing numb.

He didn't notice when Minho suddenly disappeared from view in front of him due to three bodies blocking him from sight. His brain failed to comprehend the shouting around him. All he could think was that Minho was going to hurt him again. That he was worthless. That he was a burden. That the car swerving was a mistake.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Chan shouted at Minho as he hauled the boy off Felix and threw him to the floor. Woojin and Changbin were close behind him and immediately checked on their traumatised friend. Changbin caught Felix as the boy's legs gave out. He called out to Woojin who instantly stopped glaring at Minho to help him.

Chan spared a glance behind him and raw rage speared through his veins. It was a disturbing sight. His friend, his best friend, was practically unconscious in the arms of Woojin and Changbin with the others crowding around the entrance to the lounge room, pale and uncertain. Chan snapped his attention back to the ravenette before him. He was now standing and had the audacity to look regretful as he stared at Felix.

"Don't you dare look at him!" Chan screamed, a bull of fury charging through him, his hand moving before he knew what he was doing. There was a collective gasp as Chan's fist connected with Minho's jaw. The blonde's eyes widened in surprise at his action but his stare remained stony as Minho only hissed in pain before glaring at him. What a brat!

"What was that for? I didn't even touch the whore!" It was Changbin's turn to strike Minho. The short boy was up and in front of Minho before anyone understood what was happening. He struck the ravenette repeatedly until Chan and Hyunjin were dragging him away.

"FELIX IS NOT A WHORE, YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT! THE ONLY WHORE I SEE HERE IS YOU- ALTHOUGH, YOU'RE MORE OF A SLUT. AT LEAST A WHORE GETS PAID FOR SEX. YOU'RE JUST A SLEAZY PERVERT WHO FUCKS ANYTHING THAT MOVES!" His voice echoed through the house and silence settled heavily over the group at Changbin's outburst.

Felix was fighting his way through the thick fog consuming his mind. Strange combinations of words swirled in his ears, too muddled and distant for him to comprehend their true meaning. He felt arms tighten against his body and a deafening quiet wrap around him. Disconcerted, he attempted to open his eyes but found himself too exhausted to perform such a simple task, so he didn't.

Minho stood from the ground, where he had fallen when Changbin begun to beat him viciously. He threw Felix's phone at Chan. "I don't know what you are defending an unloyal mutt for."

"Why did you have his phone?" Chan ignored Minho's slander in an attempt to gather more answers. However, the dark haired boy ignored him in return and just stared at him with dead eyes.

"The password is my birthday," Minho said simply. Chan frowned in disapproval.

"I will not invade his privacy," the ravenette sighed, annoyance evident in the forced dramatic rush of air pushed past his lips.

"Fine. I'll do it," he snatched the phone back, input the password and handed the phone back to the blonde. Chan accepted the phone uncertainly, intent on just turning it off until his eyes caught sight of an unfamiliar contact. _Kookie Hyung_? Who was this. Before he could stop himself, he found himself reading the most recent message from this person.

\------------------------------------------------------

6:30pm  
**KOOKIE HY❤NG🐰👑**

_I hope this doesn't wake you. We're glad you loved the cheese sticks 😂 _   
_I have honestly never seen someone genuinely enjoy them so enthusiastically._

_Sorry we left by the way. We didn't want to be there when your roommates got home. That could have been awkward._

_Hope you sleep well bby ❤ (also, V just messaged and is furious that you didn't call him 😂)_

Read 7:15pm

\-----------------------------------------------------

Chan blinked in surprise. Felix had people over while they were out? People he didn't know? The blonde's brow furrowed and an impression that he had truly messed up hit him. Changbin pried the phone from his grasp while he was lost in thought. He and Felix hadn't spoken much since _that_ day. The most they had said to each other was an awkward 'could you pass me the salt please' when they had made the mistake of eating together as a group when Felix came back home. They hadn't eaten as a group since then, in fact, none of them had seen Felix eat since then either. Felix only spoke to the others when absolutely necessary, except for Minho. He avoided the ravenette like the plague. Now, Chan understood why. PTSD. Part of the blonde's heart broke at this thought. Everything changed _that _day. Felix. Their relationship with Felix. Their relationship with each other. Their group habits. Everything. And it hurt Chan that everything was so bad that the boy was talking to everyone but them. It hurt that he couldn't fix this- that this was his fault.

"Are you still going to tell me he isn't a whore?" Minho challenged as Changbin glanced up and Chan met his cocky stare.

"Of course," Chan spat out.

"Envy doesn't suit you, Minho hyung," an icy voice froze the room instantly. Everyone blinked, stunned into silence at the maknae's words. His voice travelled confidently through the air, like a perfectly aimed arrow soaring towards the bullseye.

Someone snorted- probably Hyunjin or Jisung, Chan thought, but his brain was still too shocked to decide who. Looking at Minho, though, he seemed to be in a similar state of shock. His eyes were wide, his split and swollen lips parted, eyebrows curved upwards.   
A quiet chuckle bubbled past Chan's lips. This was ridiculous. Minho was standing there in front of him, at a loss for words because of Jeongin. Minho, who only seconds before had plenty to say. Minho glared at Chan before storming out of the house with a indignant huff of frustration.

The remaining members exhaled in relief. They all looked at the messages between the stranger and Felix until Seungmin snapped to his senses and snatched the phone away from them all and scolding them for being so intrusive. To which everyone felt abashed for behaving so rudely and awkwardly shuffled around the room away from the angry brunette. They all eyed the red haired boy unconscious in the eldest's arms sadly.

Woojin gathered the unresponsive red head in his arms delicately before carrying him carefully to his room and placing him on the bed gently. He stared down at the younger boy with shining eyes. "If only Minho could just deal with how he feels instead of denying them and pushing you away... I wish things were different, Lix. I really do," Woojin sighed heavily while running a hand through his hair, his jaw tense.

He glanced up sharply when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. However, he relaxed when he saw Chan leaning against the door frame with an unreadable expression. The older man sighed once more. Chan was always stressed lately, and this drama with Felix and Minho had only added to it. Despite the blond having no control over this mess, he still blamed himself for it all.

"Hey," Woojin whispered, watching Chan with adoration and concern. "How are you holding up?" He approached the exhausted boy slowly, already knowing what words he would hear next. 

"I'm fine," Chan responded with a small fake smile. Woojin snorted, but Chan ignored him. "I just wish I could fix this," the blond muttered, his words bitten and torn by frustration and helplessness.

"But I can't," he sighed defeatedly before continuing. Woojin remained silent, allowing the younger to unburden himself slightly. "I can't fix any of this. I can't make everything that happened just disappear- I mean if I could, I sure as hell would- but I can't. I'm fine, though, Woojin. So don't worry about me. Are you okay?"

Woojin frowned as Chan lied once again. "Channie, you aren't fine. And that is okay. You are allowed to not be fine. I don't think any of us are fine with anything that happened. And we don't expect you to be. In fact, if you keep trying to convince us that you are fine, then that puts pressure on us to be fine as well," Chan opened his mouth to object but Woojin held up a hand and his friend's mouth snapped shut. "I think we all need to talk to each other. Make sure everyone is on the same page- or at the very least, know how everyone is feeling. We can't progress forward if we bottle everything up. We've seen what happens when we do... I don't know about you, but I can't deal with anyone else exploding like Minho."

"I agree..." Chan trailed off as his eyes landed on Felix. "What about Felix? He barely speaks to us anymore, why would he even agree to talking about how he feels about all of this, especially when Minho keeps hurting him?" Woojin shrugged.

"I don't know Chan, but we should at least try." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey readers! Thank you all for being patient and understanding ❤ I hope this chapter is worth the wait and that you continue to enjoy this story.
> 
> Drama. Drama. Drama. That is what is happening and what is to come. So be prepared for a lot of it. I have a few surprises planned for next chapter, which may or may not be satisfying.
> 
> Also! I just realised how many people are reading this! I mean 200 reads already?! I am Jungshook! So, seriously, a massive thank you to you for reading this story, leaving kudos, and commenting on it❤💜
> 
> As a special thank you gift, if you have any ideas (example: a particular scene between two or more characters, a plot twist, a character inclusion, etc.) that you want to see, then leave a comment and I will pick a suggestion or two to add into the plot.
> 
> Oh, and for those of you who don't know, I have a Wattpad account. I am the same there as I am here: Strayis. I will be posting mostly the same stories on both accounts, however, from now on, my more explicit stories will be published on Ao3 only (excluding HOE because it started on Wattpad it will continue to be updated there as well as here).
> 
> Anyways, I hope you have a lovely day/night. You deserve it x 
> 
> (P.S Raise your hand Jungkook/Felix enthusiasts)


	4. CHAPTER THREE - TEASER

_3 months earlier..._

Chan groaned and pushed himself closer to the strong body beneath him. He pressed his lips gently against his favourite jawline before grazing his lips over the warm skin until he reached his favourite spot. He kissed the spot on the neck softly, smirking as he felt the other boy shiver. The blond began to suck on the spot eagerly with the intent to mark, eliciting a breathy moan from his favourite person. He dragged his hand down the exposed body, tracing the slight definition of abs before trailing dangerously close to the low waistband of the pants obstructing his journey. With a growl he detached from his lover's neck and removed the unwelcome articles of clothing.

The brunette inhaled sharply as Chan dove downward and pressed open mouthed kisses along his hip bones, slowly moving closer to his already hard member. He whined when the blond skirted around the sensitive area in favour for leaving a trail of hickeys on his thighs. Chan smirked at the brunette's reaction to his actions and decided to stop teasing his lover.

He met the trusting brown eyes he always found himself falling into and leaned forward to capture his favourite pair of lips. Chan moved to position himself over the brunette's groin, eager to continue, but as he went to reach back, the boy beneath him grabbed his arm and stared up at him with concern. "Wait, Channie. Are you sure you want to do this now? I barely prepped you," Chan rolled his eyes affectionately at his lover's concern, a tremor of lust vibrating through his veins. This was why he loved him. This is why he loved Woojin. He always knew when Chan needed something before Chan himself knew. He always put Chan before himself in these situations- which although frustrating sometimes, was endearing and somehow turned Chan on even more.

"Woojinnie," the blond pecked the brunette's lips. "It's fine."

"But-" Chan sighed before consuming his lover's lips once more. He pulled away slightly before speaking against Woojin's lips.

"I want you now, Woojinnie. Please," Chan begged breathlessly as he rocked backwards to initiate friction between his body and Woojin's dick. The brunette moan softly before growling and flipping them over so that Chan was pinned beneath him. This, this was what Chan loved the most about Woojin. When he dominated him.

Woojin kissed and sucked Chan's neck roughly before nibbling on the blond's collar bone. Chan's back arched as the brunette gently licked at his nipple before sucking on it.

Chan met Woojin's heavy gaze with a slow bite to his lower lip. The blond smirked as the brunette let go of any previous reservations and captured his lips roughly between his own before nibbling on Chan's lower lip. Chan willingly answered Woojin's fire with his own and ground upwards against the brunette's groin impatiently.

His lover growled into his mouth before aligning himself and pushing in slowly. Their groans and pants mingled together as Woojin thrust in fully with a sharp snap of his hips. The older set a fast and rough pace that had Chan a moaning mess in seconds. He trembled with pleasure as he focused on the feeling of Woojin's length sliding inside of him, filling him up before retracting almost all of the way out before he can completely chase after that satisfying full feeling.

The blond's pitched moans and shallow pants set Woojin's body alight with desire to extract more delicious sounds from his lover. He sucked and nibbled on Chan's neck, teasing around his sweet spot, just barely brushing against it with his lips before suckling on pale skin beside it. He moaned loudly as he angled his thrust slightly and Chan clenched around him in shocked pleasure. The feeling of Chan's walls swallowing Woojin and trying to keep him pressed against that small bundle of nerves was overwhelming and the brunette's hips stuttered. If they kept this up, it would end too quickly.

He gripped Chan's waist carefully as he pulled out and changed their position. The blond whined at the absence of Woojin inside him but the brunette simply swallowed up the pitiful sound with his mouth as he kissed Chan. He licked at Chan's lips, asking for permission which he was eagerly given.

Chan shuddered as lust coursed through him. He absently fought Woojin for dominance, their tongues pushing and swirling at each other hungrily. He didn't wish to be in control, he wanted to be dominated, but he knew Woojin liked to be challenged when he was in command.

He gasped when he felt two fingers slip into him without warning, the digits immediately pumping in and out of him at a steady pace. He rocked back against the fingers with a moan as Woojin slipped a third finger in beside the other two. The brunette scissored the blond open until he was a trembling, panting mess, lightly pressing against his prostate before pulling his fingers backwards only to push them forwards faster than before. He continued his ministrations until his lover was a moaning mess beneath him.

All too soon, the digits were slipping out of Chan and Woojin was pulling away from him. Chan pouted at his teasing lover. He didn't have to wait too long before getting what he wanted, however, because the brunette guided the blond to be on all fours swiftly before entering him again.

Chan cried out as Woojin aimed for his prostate and thrust into it repeatedly with varying pressures. Chan hissed in annoyance at the teasing alternating changes while Woojin chuckled, although somewhat breathlessly.

Woojin pound into Chan seriously when the latter rocked back into him to meet his thrusts half way. The moan that tumbled passed the blond's lips at this simple movement was enough to snap Woojin's tether and leave him mercilessly chasing after the boy's prostate with every well aimed and powerful trust.

Woojin could tell when Chan was getting close because the blond fell to his elbows and his moans became obscene and drawn out. Chan could tell by Woojin's faltering thrusts that he was about to cum, so he clenched around him, gasping out his lover's name wantonly as this action drew Woojin flush against his prostate and left him cumming at the same time as he was filled with Woojin and his own cum.

Woojin waited a moment before pulling out and collapsing beside Chan with a contended sigh. "I love you, Channie." He whispered, adoration decorating his brown eyes with shining stars as he gazed at the blond like he was his whole world. Chan smiled happily and snuggled closer to the brunette.

"I love you more," he sighed into Woojin's neck, swallowing his own sappy words with a gentle kiss against his lover's pulse.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

**FLASHBACK**

_Felix was glaring at them with an undying fury as he sat opposite the stiff ravenette. He was clearly unimpressed that they had lied to him and were now forcing him to be in the same room as the one who had hurt him and invaded his privacy. The red haired boy was impossibly tense, muscles drawn taut over his bones like an elastic band stretched to its limit, stretched until its release would yield sharp burning pain to its target, refusing to relax even as Seungmin massaged his shoulders comfortingly and Jisung curled protectively around the boy. But Chan could understand it. They had failed to protect him _that _day. It would be a long while before they could earn back Felix's trust. Perhaps even longer before he would readily depend on them for support like he used to._

_Woojin subtly rubbed small comforting circles with his fingers near Chan's lower spine. The blond sent the brunette a grateful glance before meeting Felix's glare sternly, putting on a front of the confident leader role he often found himself falling into to keep the group together._

_"Felix, I am sorry we lied to you, but you aren't the only one. We lied to Minho as well," he inhaled slowly, giving himself a few seconds of calm before chaos erupted. "We _ _ **all ** _ _need to talk."_

_Voices battled each other violently. Viciously tearing at each other, ripping their foe apart in an effort to be the last one standing, to be heard. Chan schooled his expression into one of neutrality as several voices clashed and snapped simultaneously, creating a cacophonous, disjointed melody of discord. Woojin's comforting fingers paused as the older winced at the abrasive sound._

_"SHUT UP!" The loud scream startled the room into silence. The owner of the voice blinked, seemingly surprised by his own power before he stood and met everyone's confused and expectant stares. "Just shut up," the boy's voice was weaker now, wobbling and teetering over the edge of his words. The usual ringtone of the boy's phone filled the room with foreboding. Felix glanced at Seungmin apologetically before hurrying away, ringing phone in his hand. The loud slam of his bedroom door the telltale sign of his terror._

_No one spoke. Each person too afraid to shatter the fragile layer of silence which had frozen around them. Chan leaned heavily against Woojin for support while he waited for Felix to return. He knew the red haired boy would. Whether it was after his phone call, or once his anxiety had settled down, or even after everyone else had left except for Chan, Felix would come back. So, he waited, and with him remained his eight friends._

_Half an hour ticked by before the red strands of hair and constellations of freckles cautiously returned to the living room. Felix stared at the floor with an expression that had Chan siting on the edge of his seat in a heart beat, his body tensed, ready to jump into whatever action was required._

_When Felix spoke, it was accompanied by a strange strangled sob. "They said I should forgive you," Teary brown orbs stared at Minho as a shaky exhale blanketed the room with relief. "T-that I should _try _to fix things, if you are willing to meet me half-way."_

_Minho stood uncertainly, his movements wary and slow, his face contorted by the effort to hide his jealousy, relief, regret. "I want to fix this, Lix-Felix," the red haired boy tensed and Chan winced at the ravenette's slip up. "I never meant for any of it to happen. I am so- you don't understand how sorry I am that I hurt you, Felix."_

_"Not sorry enough," the red head's harsh tone and stony glare was enough to send a rush of sharp inhales around the room and for the usually confident and dominant Minho to pull into himself, shoulders drawing inwards, arms crossing around himself uncertainly while his face paled and his mouth opened and closed as words refused to make their way passed his lips._

_The silence that had fallen over the room was deafening. It screeched and screamed until its voice was hoarse and faint. But still, it persisted._

_Woojin made eye contact with Chan, a certain sadness, which Chan was sure was mirrored in his own eyes shone brightly in his brown eyes as he conveyed every thought he was having through his exasperated, anxious expression._

_Suddenly, a body moved, unfreezing the scratched disc and continuing the story. Felix's head snapped in the direction of the movement as the tall onyx haired dancer approached him before engulfing him in an understanding, comforting embrace. It spurred Seungmin into action who joined the two eagerly._

_Chan watched as the two boys pulled away from Felix slowly. A rosy pink floated amongst the stars resting on Felix's face. A small confused but happy smiled played with the corners of the younger's lips and caused the others in the room to smile, except for Minho._

_The ravenette stared at the younger Australian with dull, heartbroken guilt. Jisung observed silently as the lonesome boy stepped quietly from the room. He hated that Minho was hurting more than before and slipped out of the room unnoticed after the boy. If anyone asked, he would tell them he was telling Minho how to fix things with Felix and encouraging him not to feel discouraged by Felix's jarring statement and involvement/reliance with/upon strangers._

**END FLASHBACK**

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

It took a few weeks, but with the guidance of Jungkook, Felix found himself able to endure Minho's presence with little to no apprehension. And with the aid of Jisung, Minho found a way to vent his frustrations while also finding out how to rectify his mistakes. He smiled contentedly when the red haired boy voluntarily chose to sit on the couch adjacent to him. While not what he was hoping for, it was progress. Considering the boy used to avoid him like the plague and outright refused to exist in the same room as him, it was major progress. Minho glanced at Felix regularly, but the boy was absorbed in whatever game he was playing on his phone.

Minho sighed quietly before giving up on the notion of possible conversation, laying back on the three-seater, stretching out much like a cat would before settling in to see what Jeongin, Jisung and Seungmin were up to as the trio had left the house over an hour ago with excited expressions.

"Can you let Chan know that I will be out for a few hours once he and Woojin are done?" Minho started at the red head's sudden voice. It had been silent, save for the constant loud moans emanating from down the hall, but those easily became background noise- to Minho anyway. The ravenette looked up at Felix as he stood and started walking towards the front door while typing on his phone with sure fingers.

"Where are you going?" He queried, even though he was sure he knew where the boy was going. The terse answer twisted his heart tightly as it only confirmed his suspicion.

"Out." The finality of the statement shut down the ravenette effectively and the red haired Aussie strode out of the house without hesitation.

Minho chuckled humorlessly. There was no purpose to the sound. It simply existed because the boy didn't know how to express his frustration. He became acutely aware of Chan's and Woojin's pitched and breathy moans as they filtered through the house. No matter how hard he attempted to focus on his phone before him he could not stop the sounds of people pleasuring each other from penetrating his concentration.

Eventually, complete and utter silence reigned over the house but it took Minho a moment to realise that moans no longer echoed around him. The ravenette shifted uncomfortably as complete silence settled over the house. With the maknaes out of the house, Hyunjin and Changbin asleep, and Chan and Woojin no longer moaning, there was no sound except for the distant purring of car engines. It was unsettling to Minho who was used to at least the soft sound of someone breathing or the rustling of someone moving to get comfortable. He sat up, no longer able to relax or zone out as he had been before Felix entered the room.

He stared at his phone blankly, not moving even as the screen went black. What was he supposed to do? He had no one. Many of the boys had become apprehensive around him and were wary to be around him too often. He knew it wasn't because they feared for their own safety. They just didn't want to upset Felix by hanging out with Minho. And it hurt.

The only person who was happy to be near him without a care was Jisung. But that only happened recently and the squirrel boy had already warned the ravenette that if he hurt Felix again, he would hurt him. Minho sighed. He really never meant to hurt Felix. He doesn't understand why he reacted the way he did when Felix came home that day. Something just snapped inside him without warning and red rage boiled his blood until he could no longer think beyond the stress and fear Felix had forced him to endure by leaving alone and going radio silent on everyone. But what he did to Felix was horrible and he hated himself for it. He missed Felix. Missed his deep voice, his carefree laugh, his cute pout when he wanted something but didn't know how to ask for it. He had messed up everything and despite Felix slowly associating with him more and more, everyone was still uncertain on whether this meant they could be openly friendly with Minho without upsetting the red haired boy. Although, Minho scoffed, it didn't really matter considering the freckled boy was rarely at the house. Ever.

The ravenette threw himself backwards with a huff. It was frustrating. He just wanted to fix what he had ruined with Felix and mend his relationships with everyone else (he missed the sex for crying out loud. He didn't like messing around with people outside their group. He didn't want something with feelings. He just wanted sex- that's what he told himself anyway).

A quiet voice startled him from his thoughts, causing him to drop his phone on his stomach in surprise. "Penny for your thoughts?" Minho glanced to his right and saw a peaceful looking Chan leaning casually against the wall, his bleached hair still partially wet from the shower he had just taken. When Minho didn't respond, the blond sighed and spoke again. "It will take time."

"I know," The ravenette sighed. "I know. I just..." Minho trailed off and dropped his head down to rest on the couch and stared up at the ceiling in annoyance.

"You regret it," Chan finished for him. Minho nodded. "That's good. You should."

The ravenette snapped his head to the side to stare at the blond in bewilderment. Chan's tone had morphed from warm and soft to cold and harsh, adding a nasty bite to his words. Minho went to speak but Chan's voice rumbled through the room before a sound could escape the confines of his throat.

"You didn't just fuck everything up for yourself. You ruined it for all of us. He trusts no one now- no one in _this _house anyway" The blond observed as Minho flinched and frowned at the reminder of Felix's new friends. "You ordered us to stay away from him- to keep him out of our fucking sessions because you wanted him and didn't want to lose him to someone else, and yet, you are the reason Felix is out there with people we don't know. People he trusts enough that he will leave the house _alone _to meet them or call them when he wants someplace else to stay. _You _did this. You pushed our Lixie away from us."

Woojin walked up behind Chan and slowly slid him arms around the blond's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. The brunette's eyes settled on Minho without empathy. He stared at the gaping ravenette who was now sitting up as shock jittered through his bones. Sure Chan could be blunt, but he usually approached situations a lot more diplomatically and refrained from placing the blame entirely on someone. Two curious faces peered into the quiet living room shamelessly as they inspected the situation.

Minho's frown deepened. Chan was right. He had fucked up. Big time. But he already knew that. Jisung had told him, although in a kinder way, that everyone was mad at Minho for ruining their relationship with Felix by behaving so aggressively. However, Jisung had told him that while they were mad at him, it wasn't the reason why they kept their distance from him. In fact, it was because they didn't want Felix to mistakenly believe that Minho's behaviour was easily excused by everyone else.

Minho exhaled slowly, calming his agitated nerves. "It will take time," the ravenette muttered, relaying Chan's earlier statement back to the older. A muscle in the blond's jaw jumped and Minho knew his statement had come across wrong. To fix it he blurted out the first sentence he thought of to stop the peeved Aussie from yelling at him. "Which is why, I'm moving out."

Surprised gasps and the clash of something hitting the tiled kitchen floor made the ravenette flinch and turn around. Four faces stared at him with varying levels of confusion. Jisung's jaw was tense, betrayal shining through his dark eyes, letting Minho know this was definitely not the best thing he should have said. A quick glance at Jeongin and Seungmin left the ravenette frowning as the two looked completely bewildered and shocked. Minho flickered his eyes to the red head behind them and observed a confused sadness on the boy's freckled face before the red head smothered it with a blank expression devoid of any emotion.

The ravenette looked away, his gaze settling on Changbin's disbelieving stare and Hyunjin's uncertain expression, as if the dancer couldn't work out if what he heard was correct or not. Minho dragged his eyes away from the two to meet Chan's and Woojin's stern gazes. He met their stares and held them unfalteringly as he restated what he said with finality as if he had actually debated this option and come to this conclusion over time instead of just panickedly blurting it out.

"I'm moving out. I'm going back to Korea. I plan to be gone before the month is over," his voice moved confidently around the words like a dancer with well learnt choreography- like he had practiced those exact lines over a thousand times.

A strange strangled noise escaped into the room, but Minho didn't turn around. He knew who it was without even having to look.

"No you're not," the words were spat out harshly, like a vicious denial wrapped around a plea disguised as an order.

Every pair of eyes in the room flickered to the scrunched freckled face of the red haired boy who was glaring at Minho with an unyielding ferocity. "You are not going back to Korea. You are not moving out. You don't get to runaway, Lee Minho," something inside the latter deflated at Felix's last statement. For a second, for a brief heartbeat, Minho could pretend that Felix said those words because he _wanted _him to stay, but with those final words, the ravenette knew that the boy simply thought of him as a coward trying to runaway from the repercussions of his actions instead of facing them and fixing what he had broken.

The constellations of freckles disappeared down the hall, their absence emphasised by the echoing slam of a door. In the silence, the others met each other's surprised stares awkwardly before slowly sneaking down the halls to their respective rooms, until Minho was left alone again in the living room.

Again, Minho chuckled mirthlessly. This was ridiculous. Even Chan refused to rebut what Felix had said or even add to it. This meant that Minho was stuck here, even if he never planned on leaving, he couldn't move away. Because to do so would be to make everything irreparable between him and the others, and Felix.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Felix wandered into the lounge room slowly. His eyes flickered nervously towards the calm ravenette occupying the three-seater couch. Despite wanting to turn around and just go back to his room, Felix chose to sit in the chair beside Minho. He promised Jungkook and Namjoon that he would try and so he was.

He focused on his phone, intermittently sending messages to the group chat he had been added to with Jungkook and the others, and playing Card Thief. He didn't mind the game. It required some strategy, especially once you reached the higher levels. He was focusing more on beating his high scores in each completed level rather than focusing on actually reaching the next level. He wanted to stay ahead of Jungkook after all, even Yoongi was close to catching up to his high scores.

He sighed as quietly as possible as he made the wrong move and was captured again. He was so close to beating his high score but now it was ruined. He reopened the group chat and read the messages he had ignored while playing the game and smiled.

Jimin and Taehyung were heading to the arcade and were wondering if Felix wanted to join them. He quickly typed out a response.

He looked up from his phone briefly and started when his eyes landed on the almost motionless ravenette stretched out across the couch. His eyes wandered over the exposed flesh where the older boy's shirt had ridden up slightly before slowly dawdling up to the ravenette's face. His expression was calm but held a pinched tension that suggested that something was bothering him. A part of Felix wanted to go over to Minho and gently massage his shoulders while asking him what was wrong, like he used to but Felix knew he couldn't do it. Both because it was too intimate after the distance between them and also because he just couldn't. Minho had hurt him, and even if it really didn't seem like much too someone else, it had traumatised Felix in a way. He just didn't trust Minho at all anymore.

He glanced down at his phone as it vibrated and read Jimin's response. The ash blond had suggested a challenge between the three of them and Felix was quick to accept it. Taheyung was a bit hesitant but Felix knew that that was because there was an underlying meaning behind "the losers have to do what the winner wants for 24 hours". Felix knew that Jimin and Taehyung were particularly close but he wasn't exactly sure what relationship they shared. He also knew that Jimin _always _got what he wanted. So, Felix knew that even if Taehyung won, he would end up still doing what Jimin wanted, and he knew that the other two knew that as well. It was a win win situation for Jimin. All the ash blond had to do was pout and bat his eye lashes and Taehyung would give him the world. Hell, Felix would give Jimin the world if he looked at him like that, especially if he used his smooth, low tone that ascended gently in pitch as he giggled. But Felix doubted Jimin would ever do that with him. They were new friends after all- although he had seen Jimin use it with complete strangers quite a lot, but it held a different tone to the one he used on the members of his household.

With a sad sigh, Felix stood. " Can you let Chan know that I will be out for a few hours once he and Woojin are done?" Without glancing up from his phone as he began to set out some ground rules for the challenge, Felix began walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" The strong smooth voice that belonged to Minho chased after him curiously. Felix struggled to keep walking at the sound of the commanding voice, it held a tinge of panic that was abnormal for the ravenette and Felix knew that he was the cause of it. He didn't want to be the reason Minho was hurting or afraid, but he wasn't about to stop seeing Jungkook, Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok, Yoongi, Namjoon or Jin to make Minho happy. As petty as it was, Felix believed it was Minho's turn to hurt. Felix shook off the thought. Minho's pride was likely the only thing that was hurt here. He didn't care what Felix did as long as he just hurried up and forgave him so that he could mess around with the others again. Felix wasn't blind or stupid. He saw that the others were keeping their distance from Minho and he knew Minho, although a bit of a hoe, he didn't want to have sex with people outside of their group. The older boy was afraid of someone getting feelings for him instead of keeping the sex meaningless. Not that Felix ever found it meaningless when he heard them all moaning together. They may not have feelings for each other in the same way lovers do, but there was still feelings there. Feelings that meant that they all wanted each other to feel satisfied and feel the utmost pleasure during their sessions. The memories of all of the times he was left alone in his room while moans filtered through the house sparked an ember of past rage and loneliness.

"Out." He responded to Minho curtly while striding out of the house. He exhaled shakily before dialing Jimin's number. The phone rang thrice before the ash blond answered the phone.

"What's up?" The boy asked the second he accepted the call.

"N-nothing. Just wanted to hear your voice is all," Felix answered cheesily. The ember flickered and burned in his chest as he strode confidently down the path he had walked over dozens of times both alone and beside someone over the last few months. It was a persistent undying flame, small but refusing to go out completely. He hated thinking about the past, even if those memories were from a few months ago before everything drastically changed _that _day.

"Did something happen, Lix?" It was Taehyung's concerned voice crackling through the phone speaker now.

"No, no. Nothing happened. Just needed something else to focus on instead of the people around me," he sighed in relief as understanding passed through the boys on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, okay," Taehyung didn't completely believe him, but Felix knew that he would wait until Felix was ready to talk about it.

"Well, just listen to our voices then, Lixie. What game should we play first at the arcade?" Jimin knew Felix wasn't being entirely truthful as well, but he hid it better than Taehyung, allowed Felix to feel like he was just simply anxious about walking the streets alone rather than dwelling on past memories and emotions. He was offering a distraction to Felix, to keep him focused on their voices rather than whatever was bothering him.

"I'm not sure. We could start with that basketball one?" He posed the suggestion as a question as he tried to recall what games the arcade had. It had been quite a while since he had last visited.

"Is that the only one you remember?" Taehyung snorted, his usual playful self returning to entertain the boys with friendly banter.

"No," Felix dragged out the 'o' slowly with a higher pitch to blatantly indicate that this was indeed the case. Jimin's giggle fluttered through the speaker and the red haired boy closed his eyes briefly at the melodic sound. The sharp, breathless inhale, almost inaudible on the other side of the phone indicated that Taehyung was similarly affected by the ash blond's laugh.

They continued to talk for about five more minutes before the line went silent for a while. The silence was comfortable and calming to Felix. After a few minutes, Jimin's soft humming danced into Felix's ear with graceful leaps and elegant twirls. Taehyung's deeper voice harmonised with Jimin's as they enticed their vocal chords through the calming melody.

The red haired boy found himself disappointed when he reached the arcade and Jimin and Taehyung stopped their impromptu serenading. He walked towards the waiting boys who were standing at the front of the arcade while pocketing his phone.

"You ready?" He asked the older boys.

"Hell yeah!" Jimin responded, eagerly grabbing Felix's and Taehyung's arms before dragging them inside the venue. "Let's get this challenge started, I can't wait to have you both doing what I say by the end of today," Both Felix and Taehyung sputtered out laughs but neither denied that that was exactly how the day would end up.

They were onto their fourth game, with Felix surprisingly in the lead, when a familiar voice startled Felix.

"Felix?" Seungmin's light voice seemed to cut through the loud game sounds easily and the red head turned around, mid-game. He stared at the brunette in surprise as he noticed Jeongin and Jisung by his side. In his peripherals, Felix saw Jimin and Taehyung also stop, turning around, watching their interaction uncertainly.   
Felix glanced at the two older boys and subtly signaled that it was alright. The two visibly relaxed but their eyes remained trained on the three in front of the freckled boy warily.

"What are you guys doing here?" Felix asked.

"What are we doing here?" Jisung asked incredulously. The rapper was already concerned for how discouraged Minho would be when he spoke to him later. Not to mention concerned about his soulmate. They were practically twins and Jisung hated how much his freckled friend had distanced himself from him since _that _day. "I think the better question is what are you doing here? You don't even like the arcade."

Jimin and Taehyung glanced at Felix sharply and the red head hung his head slightly. It was true that he wasn't the biggest fan of the arcade, but that was because it was usually crowded and there was no way to escape the overall claustrophobic atmosphere of the place. But somehow, when he was with Jimin and Taehyung, he could just lose himself in the joy of playing the games alongside them.

"Or do you only like the arcade when you're with your new friends?" Jisung's tone was accusatory and harsh but Felix knew it was just his way of masking his hurt. Seungmin slapped the brunette upside the head with a frown before anyone else could speak or do anything.

"Stop being a jealous prick, Jisung. It doesn't matter who Felix does or doesn't like going to the arcade with. You forget, when we last went to the arcade with him, he couldn't leave the house alone because of all the people walking on the paths, so how do you think he felt walking into a crowded place like this?" Jisung looked aptly reprimanded and Jeongin was stifling a laugh behind his hand, his crinkled eyes a dead give away to his mirth.

"You tell him, hyung!" Seungmin shot the maknae a half-hearted glare and the younger lost it, laughing loudly while walking away to compose himself. Seungmin sighed before looking to Felix imploringly.

"Where did we go wrong with that child?" He asked with a sigh. The red head just chuckled, a delighted grin decorating his features in a way that left the brunette smiling softly. It was something he hadn't seen his best friend do in a long time, and he desperately missed it.

"I'm sorry, Lix," Jisung apologised suddenly.

"It's okay, Sungie," the freckled boy assured his almost twin. "I know your jealousy gets the best of you sometimes," the rapper glared at Felix in annoyance.

"Hey! It does not!" The boy denied loudly. A few people turned to glance at the group but immediately looked away when Jimin looked at them, their faces suddenly becoming flushed.

Seungmin glanced between Felix and the two strangers beside him silently. The freckled boy caught on to the unspoken question and Felix rushed to introduce the boys. Jeongin had thankfully just returned to the group, composed but with a sly grin still gracing his features.

"This is Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung," Felix gestured to each boy as he said their name. His three friends nodded and extended their hands in greeting before introducing themselves.

"It's nice to finally meet the amazing Seungmin we have heard so much about," Jimin drawled. Felix shivered at the low tone the ash blond had taken on. Seungmin glanced at Felix in surprise.

"You talk about me?"

"Uhm... I talk about all of you?" He replied uncertainly. Jeongin's expression became apprehensive as he glanced between the two older boys and Felix. He stepped back, nervously playing with the rings on his fingers. Jimin caught the maknae's nervous movements and sent him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. It's all good things,"

"Okay, that has to be a lie," Jisung declared boldly. "There is no way Felix would have anything good to say about Minho anymore," Seungmin turned towards the rapper, ready to slap him again when Taehyung's voice rumbled through the air.

"We weren't talking about _him_."

"I-"

"We rarely talk about _him_," Taehyung's reprimanding stare settled on the squirrel-cheeked boy. Jisung bowed his head in apology to his unnecessary outburst. The dark haired boy was growing frustrated the longer he saw Felix beside the other two. They were extremely good looking, good enough to be famous, international models or idols. And on top of that, they were genuine, kind, and liked to have fun. It would be too easy to lose Felix to them. Jisung understood why Minho was so concerned now, even without knowing what the boys looked, sounded or acted like. Because Jisung was terrified that he would wake up and find out that the red head was moving in with Jimin and Taehyung.

"Umm... so, what brought you guys here?" Felix asked again, in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

"Jeongin wanted to come here and see who could win the most tickets," Seungmin responded, relief shining gratefully in his eyes. The dark haired maknae grinned gloatingly before announcing who the winner was.

"I won the most tickets so Seungmin hyung and Jisung hyung have _offered_ to buy me lunch!" Jeongin exclaimed eagerly.

"Offered?" Seungmin scoffed at the same time Jisung exclaimed, "Offered!"

"This brat here," Jisung moved towards Jeongin before grabbing him in a headlock. "Is draining our wallets all because of a stupid competition where the losers pay for the winner's lunch!"

"Stupid? You didn't seem to think it was stupid before I won," the dark haired boy exposed the rapper daringly despite the boy's arm near his throat.

Jimin's cute giggle floated through the air. Felix and Taehyung glanced at the dancer with grins of their own. "Looks like your dongsaeng has you there," the ash blond smiled charmingly at the trio and they smiled back, all previous reservations and apprehension gone. Felix loved how Jimin had that effect on people.

"So, are you going to get lunch now?" Taehyung queried. The trio nodded. "Mind if we join you? Don't worry, we will pay the bill," the blue haired boy added, seeing the look of concern flash on Seungmin's face and his hand instinctively move towards his wallet.

"Uh-"

"Oh! What if we have a group lunch with everyone so that way everyone can meet us?" Jimin perked up. He turned eagerly towards Felix, his eyes telling the red head that he could decline if he felt uncomfortable.

"I think that would be a great idea, hyung. What do you think, Seungmin?" Felix asked his best friend, wanting his opinion as well. The red head was actually excited for his two friend groups to meet each other. He hoped it would help each group feel less apprehensive about the other- not that Jungkook and the others felt that way towards Felix's friends or even Minho.

"Oh, um, I'm sure Chan wouldn't mind. But does this include Minho?" The brunette shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously as he glanced between Taehyung, Jimin and Felix.

"Well, we can't just exclude him," Felix responded slowly. "He is a part of our household and he is friends with the rest of you," Jeongin snorted at the word term.

"If you could call that thing slinking around the house sulkily a part of the household, then sure, include him. I, for one, think it's a terrible idea to bring him along. No one likes him anyway. He will just ruin the mood with his temper."

"Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. You're the only one I see ruining the mood with your petty and disrespectful behaviour," Jisung seethed, his stare stony as it fixated on the maknae. Jeongin looked at Jisung with disinterest, the smallest hint of annoyance tugging the corners of his lips down.

"Don't get so defensive, Jisung hyung. Your little crush is getting annoying," Jisung glanced at Felix in alarm, his mouth already opening to deny the claim. Felix observed the boy blankly. Jisung had a crush on Minho? Before he could grow too carried away by his curious and slightly hurt thoughts, Jeongin's voice ploughed forward, disturbing Jisung's words before they could weed their way to the surface. "Minho is a bad tempered person who disrespected Felix to the point where if it were up to me, I would have kicked him out of the house. He deserves no respect."

"Well, it's a good thing it isn't up to you," the dark haired rapper was furious, his fists clenched and shaking, his eyes narrowed and cold, his voice deep and rough with rage.

Jimin stepped forward before things could escalate. "How about we play a few games together to cool off? The person who earns the most tickets out of three games gets to make the people with the least amount of tickets do whatever they want for the next 24 hours," Jimin's expression became serious suddenly as he added in a light voice, "terms and conditions apply."

Felix nearly choked on his saliva as he tried to inhale and laugh at the same time. The other boys grinned, a few melodic jingles of laughter escaping each of them at the short phrase every ad seemed to include on the television.

\-----------------------------------------------------

The red haired boy sighed contentedly as he observed his friends interacting and competing against each other. He stood a little off to the side with Jeongin as Taehyung and Seungmin versed Jimin and Jisung in air hocky. Jimin and Jisung were ahead by 250 points but Felix knew that the scores were not set in stone yet. The competitive clench of Seungmin's jaw combined with his narrowed eyes which focused solely on the pucks suggested decimation. There was no way Jimin and Jisung were escaping this game unscathed. Felix giggled with Jeongin as they observed Jisung and Jimin grow increasingly frustrated as the tables turned and Seungmin single-handedly destroyed their score with an extra 700 points. Felix chuckled loudly when he glanced at Taehyung and was met with baffled bewilderment. The older boy's eyes were wide with astonishment as Seungmin moved swiftly and precisely, delivering devastating blows to Jimin's and Jisung's pride like a well-oiled machine.

A victorious shout from Taehyung signaled the end of the game. Seungmin smirked at the opposing team while brushing off his hands casually. Taehyung jumped around Seungmin and wrapped his arms around him, encouraging him to jump with him. Felix laughed loudly as the younger boy grinned and allowed the giddiness of his sweet victory hit him full force. This game was the final one and it had just made Taehyung and Seungmin the winners.

The idea of teaming up had been Jeongin's idea. Felix believed it was an excuse to continue keeping his distance from Jisung while (hopefully) beating him. All of them had agreed that pairing up would be a great idea as it meant a few other games could be played. So, after quickly working out the groups and tallying up the pairs' collective scores, they set out to destroy each other.

Unfortunately, Felix and Jeongin ended up left behind in the dust as Jimin and Jisung, and Taehyung and Seungmin raced ahead with what seemed like superhuman scores to the younger boys. However, they were eager to watch the rivalry between the two groups grow as they battled to be the winner.

The only time anxiety pricked at Felix was when he noticed the crowd they had drawn. It was only a dozen people, but that was enough to have Felix forgetting how to breathe until Jeongin put a comforting arm around him and whispered encouragement to him. The younger continued to speak softly, offering Felix something else to focus on, until Felix relaxed.

With Taehyung and Seungmin the winners and Jeongin and Felix the indisputable losers, Felix felt his wallet wailing already. A glance at Jeongin's wary expression told Felix that the younger was hearing his own wallet crying as well. He glanced at the four boys, two beaming with victory and two begrudgingly licking their wounds. Even if it was just the six of them, Felix would not be able to pay for all of the food they would eat, and with the possibility of the other ten boys joining them for lunch, there was no way Felix would be able to afford it, even with Jeongin's help.

Lost in thought, Felix didn't hear Seungmin calling his name at first. It wasn't until Jeongin nudged him back to reality that he looked up from the floor and met the brunette's brown eyes shining with affection and slyness.

"Felix?"

"Sorry, yeah?" He blinked at the boy as Taehyung moved to stand beside him.

"Don't stress, Felix," Taehyung's voice danced joyfully through the air, mingling eagerly with the jingles of the games within the arcade. "We wouldn't allow our dongsaengs to pay for all of us." Taehyung's expression became blank for a moment as he added, "Besides, Namjoon hyung would lecture us about being bad hyungs if we did that," he pulled a face and all four of them giggled.

A sigh snagged their attention and Felix glanced over to his right. Jimin was standing between Seungmin and Felix with Jisung hiding shamefully behind him. If Felix wasn't still a little upset from finding out that Jisung had a crush on Minho, then he would have hugged his almost twin and promised him cuddles back at the house. It might have seemed ridiculous to anyone else, but he wasn't upset that Jisung was crushing on Minho, it was bound to happen after all - it's not like Minho was unattractive. What upset Felix was the fact that Jisung had kept it from him. How long had he been keeping it a secret? Had Jisung liked Minho when Felix had told him about his own hopeless crush on the ravenette? Is that why the boy Felix would consider his brother had not uttered a single word about liking Minho?

Shooing away the nagging questions he would probably never get an answer for, the red haired boy smiled at Jimin. The ash blond returned the gesture eagerly before telling Taehyung that he had texted Namjoon and the older had told them to come home and help him convince Yoongi to get out of bed.

Bidding farewell to the older boys was amusing to Felix. Jisung seemed eager to shadow Jimin home before Seungmin grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back, all while smiling brightly and waving at the two walking away. Jeongin giggled with Felix at the scene. Jimin stopped for a second to blow Jisung a joking kiss while Taehyung chuckled endlessly, finding the whole ordeal hilarious - especially as Jisung blushed a dark red and tried to scurry behind Seungmin to hide his crimson face.

\--------------------------------------------------

It seemed as if Jisung's embarrassment was enough to resolve the tension between him and Jeongin - or Jeongin deemed this, combined with his defeat, enough to make up for his earlier transgressions, because the dark haired boy gleefully teased the older about his _very _red face for the entire twenty minute walk back to the house.

Jisung jokingly went to strangle Jeongin at one stage and Seungmin had to hold the boy back. His eyes stared at Felix imploringly, but the freckled boy couldn't stop laughing and found himself unable to help restrain Jisung.

When they, entered the house, their giggles quietened as they snuck into the kitchen to grab the bag of snacks Seungmin had bought the day before. Felix was grabbing some glasses so the boys could drink some soda, when he heard Minho's voice. The once comforting sound sent a shiver of apprehension down his spine. He glanced at the three boys and they met his gaze with furrowed brows. Although, none of them could discern what was being said, they could all hear the tense tone Minho's muffled words carried.

Shuffling quietly out of the kitchen, glass forgotten in his hand, Felix followed the others towards the living room. Just as they made it to the door way, Minho's words rang clearly through the air like a clock tower bell chiming loudly so it could be heard over the cacophony of the city.

"I'm moving out." Those three words sent a hurricane of emotions rampaging through Felix. Without realising, the glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the tiled kitchen floor. Something within him scoffed at how the shards were almost an exact replica of his heart; broken and irreparable. Hundreds of thoughts crashed through his mind all at once, reminiscent of a stampede of wild rhinos. His skull felt like it would split open from the impact of the thoughts being flung against it violently as the raging winds tearing him apart seemed to only grow more vicious.

Minho can't leave! That thought- that desperation exclamation shot through him, spearing his lungs and tearing the organ to pieces. Felix felt oxygen and carbon dioxide stutter in his throat as he forgot how to breathe (**A/N: this is where I started to cry. I was listening to Astronaut and started wondering which parts Woojin would have been singing or if they removed those parts. And then I started thinking about how their future songs really won't have Woojin... goodnight**). The world blurred and refocused as a fuzzy darkness scratched at the sides of his eyes, consuming his vision.

As quickly as the sheer panic had come, it disappeared. A furious determination standing steadfast in it's place, it's jaw snapping viciously with rage and betrayal. A scary calm washed over Felix, soothing his muscles, soothing his aching heart, soothing his burning lungs, and washing away any traces of his previous panic.

"I'm moving out. I'm going back to Korea. I plan to be gone before the month is over," the practiced words slashed at the frothing beast trembling with pent up fury, goading it. It was only logical that the beast would retaliate, that it would lash out with just as much fervor.

"No you're not," the words were red and raw, bloodied and torn. An unyielding demand hiding a broken plea that had been whispered into the silent night too many times: _don't leave me, please._

Every pair of eyes in the room flickered to the scrunched freckled face of the red haired boy who was glaring at Minho with an unyielding ferocity. Felix refused to back down even as t he pressure of all of these people watching him, sparked his anxiety. The multiple sets of eyes only encouraged the beast.

"You are not going back to Korea," the beast launched itself at it's unsuspecting prey, it's teeth bared. "You are not moving out. You don't get to runaway, _Lee Minho_," the name was spat out as if the syllables were poisoned. Felix glared at Minho. It was infuriating that the boy he had idolized and cared for more than he should have, was trying to bail instead of trying to fix things. The beast of rage within him snarled at the the thought of Minho scampering away with his tail between his legs. It was pathetic. The boy was supposed to care for Felix. He was supposed to want to fix this. Yet, all he wanted to do was get as far away from Felix as possible.

As a storm cloud of sadness loomed over the beast and allowed freezing fat drops of despair and loneliness to numb the raging beast. Before the tidal wave could crash through his eyes and reveal his pain to the world, Felix stormed down the hall and entered his room. The slam of the door boomed through the air like a loud clash of thunder. With this herald of a storm, Felix's dam broke and tears cascaded past his freckles freely. A single thought raced within the droplets of warm salty water as they dropped from his chin into a free fall to the floor;

Why does Minho hate him? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! First and foremost I just want to thank you for reading this story. I appreciate you so much 💛
> 
> Okay, so! IMPORTANT part here -> The reason behind this being a teaser for chapter three instead of being the whole chapter is because chapter three is really long. Like REEEEAAAALLY long. Over 7000 words already and I am only just at the halfway point of the chapter with many, many more words to come. So, if this 2000+ word teaser seems like an extremely long teaser, its because chapter three makes this look like a small 600 word snippet instead of its own chapter.
> 
> Anyways, I honestly keep forgetting to check how many reads and kudos I have but when I saw how many I have now, I was Jungshook! I am honestly so thankful that you are enjoying this story. I am also happy that you don't mind the addition of BTS into the story.
> 
> And please don't be shy to comment! I love recieving comments. Even if you just jump into the comments to let me know that your cat is named Cat or something. I like being able to talk to you and hearing your thoughts. I will always respond to your comment- even if it's with something hella awkward, I will respond.
> 
> Anyways, some changes to the plot changes have occured that I should mention.
> 
> PLOT CHANGES:  
\- Both groups are currently living in Australia  
\- Jisung is a jealous boy  
\- Seungmin doesn't care if he is younger, he will discipline those who need it... even if they are his [jealous] hyung.
> 
> Some alterations will be made to the café scene in chapter one as I decided to make it more Australian to fit their location.


	5. A/N - In Regards to Woojin

In light of the news that Woojin has left Stray Kids and my mental state leaving with it... I will be taking an extended break from writing. I have no idea how long this will last. And I apologise to everyone who has been supporting my stories. But, I cannot write. Both of my published fics include Woojin and I don't know what to do and everything hurts to think about. I am sorry. I honestly hope beyond all hope that this is just some massive scare because it's halloween...

For Woojin:

**Thank you, Woojin. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. Thank you! I hope that your personal reasons become better and we see you again someday... Whatever the reason you have to go, I hope everything works out. ****  
****I love you 3000. I will miss you more than the world would miss the moon.****  
****Thank you for existing and gracing Stay with your talent.** **Thank you for being there for Stay while you could ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡**


	6. CHAPTER THREE

_3 months earlier..._

Chan groaned and pushed himself closer to the strong body beneath him. He pressed his lips gently against his favourite jawline before grazing his lips over the warm skin until he reached his favourite spot. He kissed the spot on the neck softly, smirking as he felt the other boy shiver. The blond began to suck on the spot eagerly with the intent to mark, eliciting a breathy moan from his favourite person. He dragged his hand down the exposed body, tracing the slight definition of abs before trailing dangerously close to the low waistband of the pants obstructing his journey. With a growl he detached from his lover's neck and removed the unwelcome articles of clothing. 

  
The brunette inhaled sharply as Chan dove downward and pressed open mouthed kisses along his hip bones, slowly moving closer to his already hard member. He whined when the blond skirted around the sensitive area in favour for leaving a trail of hickeys on his thighs. Chan smirked at the brunette's reaction to his actions and decided to stop teasing his lover.

He met the trusting brown eyes he always found himself falling into and leant forward to capture his favourite pair of lips. Chan moved to position himself over the brunette's groin, eager to continue, but as he went to reach back, the boy beneath him grabbed his arm and stared up at him with concern. "Wait, Channie. Are you sure you want to do this now? I barely prepped you," Chan rolled his eyes affectionately at his lover's concern, a tremor of lust vibrating through his veins. This was why he loved him. This is why he loved Woojin. He always knew when Chan needed something before Chan himself knew. He always put Chan before himself in these situations- which although frustrating sometimes, was endearing and somehow turned Chan on even more.

"Woojinnie," the blond pecked the brunette's lips. "It's fine."

"But-" Chan sighed before consuming his lover's lips once more. He pulled away slightly before speaking against Woojin's lips.

"I want you now, Woojinnie. Please," Chan begged breathlessly as he rocked backwards to initiate friction between his body and Woojin's dick. The brunette moan softly before growling and flipping them over so that Chan was pinned beneath him. This, this was what Chan loved the most about Woojin. When he dominated him.

Woojin kissed and sucked Chan's neck roughly before nibbling on the blond's collar bone. Chan's back arched as the brunette gently licked at his nipple before sucking on it.

Chan met Woojin's heavy gaze with a slow bite to his lower lip. The blond smirked as the brunette let go of any previous reservations and captured his lips roughly between his own before nibbling on Chan's lower lip. Chan willingly answered Woojin's fire with his own and ground upwards against the brunette's groin impatiently.

His lover growled into his mouth before aligning himself and pushing in slowly. Their groans and pants mingled together as Woojin thrusted in fully with a sharp snap of his hips. The older set a fast and rough pace that had Chan a moaning mess in seconds. He trembled with pleasure as he focused on the feeling of Woojin's length sliding inside of him, filling him up before retracting almost all of the way out before he can completely chase after that satisfying full feeling.

The blond's pitched moans and shallow pants set Woojin's body alight with desire to extract more delicious sounds from his lover. He sucked and nibbled on Chan's neck, teasing around his sweet spot, just barely brushing against it with his lips before suckling on pale skin beside it. He moaned loudly as he angled his thrust slightly and Chan clenched around him in shocked pleasure. The feeling of Chan's walls swallowing Woojin and trying to keep him pressed against that small bundle of nerves was overwhelming and the brunette's hips stuttered. If they kept this up, it would end too quickly.

He gripped Chan's waist carefully as he pulled out and changed their position. The blond whined at the absence of Woojin inside him but the brunette simply swallowed up the pitiful sound with his mouth as he kissed Chan. He licked at Chan's lips, asking for permission which he was eagerly given.

Chan shuddered as lust coursed through him. He absently fought Woojin for dominance, their tongues pushing and swirling at each other hungrily. He didn't wish to be in control, he wanted to be dominated, but he knew Woojin liked to be challenged when he was in command.

He gasped when he felt two fingers slip into him without warning, the digits immediately pumping in and out of him at a steady pace. He rocked back against the fingers with a moan as Woojin slipped a third finger in beside the other two. The brunette scissored the blond open until he was a trembling, panting mess, lightly pressing against his prostate before pulling his fingers backwards only to push them forwards faster than before. He continued his ministrations until his lover was a moaning mess beneath him.

All too soon, the digits were slipping out of Chan and Woojin was pulling away from him. Chan pouted at his teasing lover. He didn't have to wait too long before getting what he wanted, however, because the brunette guided the blond to be on all fours swiftly before entering him again.

Chan cried out as Woojin aimed for his prostate and thrust into it repeatedly with varying pressures. Chan hissed in annoyance at the teasing alternating changes while Woojin chuckled, although somewhat breathlessly.

Woojin pound into Chan seriously when the latter rocked back into him to meet his thrusts half way. The moan that tumbled passed the blond's lips at this simple movement was enough to snap Woojin's tether and leave him mercilessly chasing after the boy's prostate with every well aimed and powerful trust.

Woojin could tell when Chan was getting close because the blond fell to his elbows and his moans became obscene and drawn out. Chan could tell by Woojin's faltering thrusts that he was about to cum, so he clenched around him, gasping out his lover's name wantonly as this action drew Woojin flush against his prostate and left him cumming at the same time as he was filled with Woojin and his own cum.

Woojin waited a moment before pulling out and collapsing beside Chan with a contended sigh. "I love you, Channie." He whispered, adoration decorating his brown eyes with shining stars as he gazed at the blond like he was his whole world. Chan smiled happily and snuggled closer to the brunette.

"I love you more," he sighed into Woojin's neck, swallowing his own sappy words with a gentle kiss against his lover's pulse.

\------------------------------------------------------

**FLASHBACK**

_Felix was glaring at them with an undying fury as he sat opposite the stiff ravenette. He was clearly unimpressed that they had lied to him and were now forcing him to be in the same room as the one who had hurt him and invaded his privacy. The red haired boy was impossibly tense, muscles drawn taut over his bones like an elastic band stretched to its limit, stretched until its release would yield sharp burning pain to its target, refusing to relax even as Seungmin massaged his shoulders comfortingly and Jisung curled protectively around the boy. But Chan could understand it. They had failed to protect him _that _day. It would be a long while before they could earn back Felix's trust. Perhaps even longer before he would readily depend on them for support like he used to. _

_Woojin subtly rubbed small comforting circles with his fingers near Chan's lower spine. The blond sent the brunette a grateful glance before meeting Felix's glare sternly, putting on a front of the confident leader role he often found himself falling into to keep the group together. _

_"Felix, I am sorry we lied to you, but you aren't the only one. We lied to Minho as well," he inhaled slowly, giving himself a few seconds of calm before chaos erupted. "We _ _ **all ** _ _need to talk." _

_Voices battled each other violently. Viciously tearing at each other, ripping their foe apart in an effort to be the last one standing, to be heard. Chan schooled his expression into one of neutrality as several voices clashed and snapped simultaneously, creating a cacophonous, disjointed melody of discord. Woojin's comforting fingers paused as the older winced at the abrasive sound. _

_"SHUT UP!" The loud scream startled the room into silence. The owner of the voice blinked, seemingly surprised by his own power before he stood and met everyone's confused and expectant stares. "Just shut up," the boy's voice was weaker now, wobbling and teetering over the edge of his words. The usual ringtone of the boy's phone filled the room with foreboding. Felix glanced at Seungmin apologetically before hurrying away, ringing phone in his hand. The loud slam of his bedroom door the telltale sign of his terror. _

_No one spoke. Each person too afraid to shatter the fragile layer of silence which had frozen around them. Chan leaned heavily against Woojin for support while he waited for Felix to return. He knew the red haired boy would. Whether it was after his phone call, or once his anxiety had settled down, or even after everyone else had left except for Chan, Felix would come back. So, he waited, and with him remained his eight friends. _

_Half an hour ticked by before the red strands of hair and constellations of freckles cautiously returned to the living room. Felix stared at the floor with an expression that had Chan siting on the edge of his seat in a heart beat, his body tensed, ready to jump into whatever action was required. _

_When Felix spoke, it was accompanied by a strange strangled sob. "They said I should forgive you," Teary brown orbs stared at Minho as a shaky exhale blanketed the room with relief. "T-that I should _try _to fix things, if you are willing to meet me half-way."_

_Minho stood uncertainly, his movements wary and slow, his face contorted by the effort to hide his jealousy, relief, regret. "I want to fix this, Lix-Felix," the red haired boy tensed and Chan winced at the ravenette's slip up. "I never meant for any of it to happen. I am so- you don't understand how sorry I am that I hurt you, Felix." _

_"Not sorry enough," the red head's harsh tone and stony glare was enough to send a rush of sharp inhales around the room and for the usually confident and dominant Minho to pull into himself, shoulders drawing inwards, arms crossing around himself uncertainly while his face paled and his mouth opened and closed as words refused to make their way passed his lips. _

_The silence that had fallen over the room was deafening. It screeched and screamed until its voice was hoarse and faint. But still, it persisted._

_Woojin made eye contact with chan, a certain sadness, which Chan was sure was mirrored in his own eyes shone brightly in his brown eyes as he conveyed every thought he was having through his exasperated, anxious expression. _

_Suddenly, a body moved, unfreezing the scratched disc and continuing the story. Felix's head snapped in the direction of the movement as the tall onyx haired dancer approached him before engulfing him in an understanding, comforting embrace. It spurred Seungmin into action who joined the two eagerly. _

_Chan watched as the two boys pulled away from Felix slowly. A rosy pink floated amongst the stars resting on Felix's face. A small confused but happy smiled played with the corners of the younger's lips and caused the others in the room to smile, except for Minho. _

_The ravenette stared at the younger Australian with dull, heartbroken guilt. Jisung observed silently as the lonesome boy stepped quietly from the room. He hated that Minho was hurting more than before and slipped out of the room unnoticed after the boy. If anyone asked, he would tell them he was telling Minho how to fix things with Felix and encouraging him not to feel discouraged by Felix's jarring statement and involvement/reliance with/upon strangers. _

**END FLASHBACK **

\------------------------------------------------------

It took a few weeks, but with the guidance of Jungguk, Felix found himself able to endure Minho's presence with little to no apprehension. And with the aid of Jisung, Minho found a way to vent his frustrations while also finding out how to rectify his mistakes. He smiled contendedly when the red haired boy voluntarily chose to sit on the couch adjacent to him. While not what he was hoping for, it was progress. Considering the boy used to avoid him like the plague and outright refused to exist in the same room as him, it was major progress. Minho glanced at Felix regularly, but the boy was absorbed in whatever game he was playing on his phone.

Minho sighed quietly before giving up on the notion of possible converstaion, laying back on the three seater, stretching out much like a cat would before settling in to see what Jeongin, Jisung and Seungmin were up to as the trio had left the house over an hour ago with excited expressions.

"Can you let Chan know that I will be out for a few hours once he and Woojin are done?" Minho started at the red head's sudden voice. It had been silent, save for the constant loud moans emanating from down the hall, but those easily became background noise- to Minho anyway. The ravenette looked up at Felix as he stood and started walking towards the front door while typing on his phone with sure fingers.

"Where are you going?" He queried, even though he was sure he knew where the boy was going. The terse answer twisted his heart tightly as it only confirmed his suspicion.

"Out." The finality of the statement shut down the ravenette effectively and the red haired Aussie strode out of the house without hesitation.

Minho chuckled humourlessly. There was no purpose to the sound. It simply existed because the boy didn't know how to express his frustration. He became acutely aware of Chan's and Woojin's pitched and breathy moans as they filtered through the house. No matter how hard he attempted to focus on his phone before him he could not stop the sounds of people pleasuring each other from penetrating his concentration.

Eventually, complete and utter silence reigned over the house but it took Minho a moment to realise that moans no longer echoed around him. The ravenette shifted uncomfortably as complete silence settled over the house. With the maknaes out of the house, Hyunjin and Changbin asleep, and Chan and Woojin no longer moaning, there was no sound except for the distant purring of car engines. It was unsettling to Minho who was used to at least the soft sound of someone breathing or the rustling of someone moving to get comfortable. He sat up, no longer able to relax or zone out as he had been before Felix enetered the room.

He stared at his phone blankly, not moving even as the screen went black. What was he supposed to do? He had no one. Many of the boys had become apprehensive around him and were wary to be around him too often. He knew it wasn't because they feared for their own safety. They just didn't want to upset Felix by hanging out with Minho. And it hurt.

The only person who was happy to be near him without a care was Jisung. But that only happened recently and the squirrel boy had already warned the ravenette that if he hurt Felix again, he would hurt him. Minho sighed. He really never meant to hurt Felix. He doesn't understand why he reacted the way he did when Felix came home that day. Something just snapped inside him without warning and red rage boiled his blood until he could no longer think beyond the stress and fear Felix had forced him to endure by leaving alone and going radio silent on everyone. But what he did to Felix was horrible and he hated himself for it. He missed Felix. Missed his deep voice, his carefree laugh, his cute pout when he wanted something but didn't know how to ask for it. He had messed up everything and despite Felix slowly associating with him more and more, everyone was still uncertain on whether this meant they could be openly friendly with Minho without upsetting the red haired boy. Although, Minho scoffed, it didn't really matter considering the freckled boy was rarely at the house. Ever.

The ravenette threw himself backwards with a huff. It was frustrating. He just wanted to fix what he had ruined with Felix and mend his relationships with everyone else (he missed the sex for crying out loud. He didn't like messing around with people outside their group. He didn't want something with feelings. He just wanted sex- that's what he told himself anyway).

A quiet voice startled him from his thoughts, causing him to drop his phone on his stomach in surprise. "Penny for your thoughts?" Minho glanced to his right and saw a peaceful looking Chan leaning casually against the wall, his bleached hair still partially wet from the shower he had just taken. When Minho didn't respond, the blond sighed and spoke again. "It will take time."

"I know," The ravenette sighed. "I know. I just..." Minho trailed off and dropped his head down to rest on the couch and stared up at the ceiling in annoyance.

"You regret it," Chan finished for him. Minho nodded. "That's good. You should."

The ravenette snapped his head to the side to stare at the blond in bewilderment. Chan's tone had morphed from warm and soft to cold and harsh, adding a nasty bite to his words. Minho went to speak but Chan's voice rumbled through the room before a sound could escape the confines of his throat.

"You didn't just fuck everything up for yourself. You ruined it for all of us. He trusts no one now- no one in _this _house anyway" The blond observed as Minho flinched and frowned at the reminder of Felix's new friends. "You ordered us to stay away from him- to keep him out of our fucking sessions because you wanted him and didn't want to lose him to someone else, and yet, you are the reason Felix is out there with people we don't know. People he trusts enough that he will leave the house _alone _to meet them or call them when he wants someplace else to stay. _You _did this. You pushed our Lixie away from us."

Woojin walked up behind Chan and slowly slid him arms around the blond's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. The brunette's eyes settled on Minho without empathy. He stared at the gaping ravenette who was now sitting up as shock jittered through his bones. Sure Chan could be blunt, but he usually approached situations a lot more diplomatically and refrained from placing the blame entirely on someone. Two curious faces peered into the quiet living room shamelessly as they inspected the situation.

Minho's frown deepened. Chan was right. He had fucked up. Big time. But he already knew that. Jisung had told him, although in a kinder way, that everyone was mad at Minho for ruining their relationship with Felix by behaving so aggressively. However, Jisung had told him that while they were mad at him, it wasn't the reason why they kept their distance from him. In fact, it was because they didn't want Felix to mistakenly believe that Minho's behaviour was easily excused by everyone else.

Minho exhaled slowly, calming his agitated nerves. "It will take time," the ravenette muttered, relaying Chan's earlier statement back to the older. A muscle in the blond's jaw jumped and Minho knew his statment had come across wrong. To fix it he blurted out the first sentence he thought of to stop the peeved Aussie from yelling at him. "Which is why, I'm moving out."

Surprised gasps and the clash of something hitting the tiled kitchen floor made the ravenette flinch and turn around. Four faces stared at him with varying levels of confusion. Jisung's jaw was tense, betrayal shining through his dark eyes, letting Minho know this was definitely not the best thing he should have said. A quick glance at Jeongin and Seungmin left the ravenette frowning as the two looked completely bewildered and shocked. Minho flickered his eyes to the red head behind them and observed a confused sadness on the boy's freckled face before the red head smothered it with a blank expression devoid of any emotion.

The ravenette looked away, his gaze settling on Changbin's disbelieving stare and Hyunjin's uncertain expression, as if the dancer couldn't work out if what he heard was correct or not. Minho dragged his eyes away from the two to meet Chan's and Woojin's stern gazes. He met their stares and held them unfalteringly as he restated what he said with finaltiy as if he had actually debated this option and come to this conclusion over time instead of just panickedly blurting it out.

"I'm moving out. I'm going back to Korea. I plan to be gone before the month is over," his voice moved confidently around the words like a dancer with well learnt choreography- like he had practiced those exact lines over a thousand times.

A strange strangled noise escaped into the room, but Minho didn't turn around. He knew who it was without even having to look.

"No you're not," the words were spat out harshly, like a vicious denial wrapped around a plea disguised as an order.

Every pair of eyes in the room flickered to the scrunched freckled face of the red haired boy who was glaring at Minho with an unyielding ferocity. "You are not going back to Korea. You are not moving out. You don't get to runaway, Lee Minho," something inside the latter deflated at Felix's last statment. For a second, for a breif heartbeat, Minho could pretend that Felix said those words because he _wanted _him to stay, but with those final words, the ravenette knew that the boy simply thought of him as a coward trying to runaway from the repercussions of his actions instead of facing them and fixing what he had broken.

The constellations of freckles disappeared down the hall, their absence emphasised by the echoing slam of a door. In the silence, the others met each other's surprised stares awkwardly before slowly sneaking down the halls to their respective rooms, until Minho was left alone again in the living room.

Again, Minho chuckled mirthlessly. This was ridiculous. Even Chan refused to rebut what Felix had said or even add to it. This meant that Minho was stuck here, even if he never planned on leaving, he couldn't move away. Because to do so would be to make everything irreparable between him and the others, and Felix.

\--------

Felix wandered into the lounge room slowly. His eyes flickered nervously towards the calm ravenette occupying the three seater couch. Despite wanting to turn around and just go back to his room, Felix chose to sit in the chair beside Minho. He promised Jungkook and Namjoon that he would try and so he was.

He focused on his phone, intermittently sending messages to the groupchat he had been added to with Jungkook and the others, and playing Card Thief. He didn't mind the game. It required some strategy, especially once you reached the higher levels. He was focusing more on beating his highscores in each completed level rather than focusing on actually reaching the next level. He wanted to stay ahead of Jungkook after all, even Yoongi was close to catching up to his high scores.

He sighed as quietly as possible as he made the wrong move and was captured again. He was so close to beating his high score but now it was ruined. He reopened the group chat and read the messages he had ignored while playing the game and smiled.

Jimin and Taehyung were heading to the arcade and were wondering if Felix wanted to join them. He quickly typed out a response.

He looked up from his phone briefly and started when his eyes landed on the almost motionless ravenette stretched out across the couch. His eyes wandered over the exposed flesh where the older boy's shirt had ridden up slightly before slowly dawdling up to the ravenette's face. His expression was calm but held a pinched tension that suggested that something was bothering him. A part of Felix wanted to go over to Minho and gently massage his shoulders while asking him what was wrong, like he used to but Felix knew he couldn't do it. Both because it was too intimate after the distance between them and also because he just couldn't. Minho had hurt him, and even if it really didn't seem like much too someone else, it had traumatised Felix in a way. He just didn't trust Minho at all anymore.

He glanced down at his phone as it vibrated and read Jimin's response. The ash blond had suggested a challenge between the three of them and Felix was quick to accept it. Taheyung was a bit hesitant but Felix knew that that was because there was an underlying meaning behind "the losers have to do what the winner wants for 24 hours". Felix knew that Jimin and Taehyung were particularly close but he wasn't exactly sure what relationship they shared. He also knew that Jimin _always _got what he wanted. So, Felix knew that even if Taehyung won, he would end up still doing what Jimin wanted, and he knew that the other two knew that as well. It was a win win situation for Jimin. All the ash blond had to do was pout and bat his eye lashes and Taehyung would give him the world. Hell, Felix would give Jimin the world if he looked at him like that, especially if he used his smooth, low tone that ascended gently in pitch as he giggled. But Felix doubted Jimin would ever do that with him. They were new friends afterall- although he had seen Jimin use it with complete strangers quite a lot, but it held a different tone to the one he used on the members of his household.

With a sad sigh, Felix stood. " Can you let Chan know that I will be out for a few hours once he and Woojin are done?" Without glancing up from his phone as he began to set out some ground rules for the challenge, Felix began walking towards the front door.

"Where are you going?" The strong smooth voice that belonged to Minho chased after him curiously. Felix struggled to keep walking at the sound of the commanding voice, it held a tinge of panic that was abnormal for the ravenette and Felix knew that he was the cause of it. He didn't want to be the reason Minho was hurting or afraid, but he wasn't about to stop seeing Jungkook, Jimin, Taehyung, Hoseok, Yoongi, Namjoon or Jin to make Minho happy. As petty as it was, Felix believed it was Minho's turn to hurt. Felix shook off the thought. Minho's pride was likely the only thing that was hurt here. He didn't care what Felix did as long as he just hurried up and forgave him so that he could mess around with the others again. Felix wasn't blind or stupid. He saw that the others were keeping their distance from Minho and he knew Minho, although a bit of a hoe, didn't want to have sex with people outside of their group. The older boy was afraid of someone getting feelings for him instead of keeping the sex meaningless. Not that Felix ever found it meaningless when he heard them all moaning together. They may not have feelings for each other in the same way lovers do, but there was still feelings there. Feelings that meant that they all wanted each other to feel satisfied and feel the utmost pleasure during their sessions. The memories of all of the times he was left alone in his room while moans filtered through the house sparked an ember of past rage and loneliness.

"Out." He responded to Minho curtly while striding out of the house. He exhaled shakily before dialing Jimin's number. The phone rang thrice before the ash blond answered the phone.

"What's up?" The boy asked the second he accepted the call.

"N-nothing. Just wanted to hear your voice is all," Felix answered cheesily. The ember flickered and burned in his chest as he strode confidently down the path he had walked over dozens of times both alone and beside someone over the last few months. It was a persistent undying flame, small but refusing to go out completely. He hated thinking about the past, even if those memories were from a few months ago before everything drastically changed _that _day.

"Did something happen, Lix?" It was Taehyung's concerned voice crackling through the phone speaker now.

"No, no. Nothing happened. Just needed something else to focus on instead of the people around me," he sighed in relief as understanding passed through the boys on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, okay," Taehyung didn't completely believe him, but Felix knew that he would wait until Felix was ready to talk about it.

"Well, just listen to our voices then, Lixie. What game should we play first at the arcade?" Jimin knew Felix wasn't being entirely truthful as well, but he hid it better than Taehyung, allowed Felix to feel like he was just simply anxious about walking the streets alone rather than dwelling on past memories and emotions. He was offering a distraction to Felix, to keep him focused on their voices rather than whatever was bothering him.

"I'm not sure. We could start with that basketball one?" He posed the suggestion as a question as he tried to recall what games the arcade had. It had been quite a while since he had last visited.

"Is that the only one you remember?" Taehyung snorted, his usual playful self returning to entertain the boys with friendly banter.

"No," Felix dragged out the 'o' slowly with a higher pitch to blatantly indicate that this was indeed the case. Jimin's giggle fluttered through the speaker and the red haired boy closed his eyes briefly at the melodic sound. The sharp, breathless inhale, almost inaudible on the other side of the phone indicated that Taehyung was similarly affected by the ash blond's laugh.

They continued to talk for about five more minutes before the line went silent for a while. The silence was comfortable and calming to Felix. After a few minutes, Jimin's soft humming danced into Felix's ear with graceful leaps and elegant twirls. Taehyung's deeper voice harmonised with Jimin's as they enticed their vocal chords through the calming melody.

The red haired boy found himself disappointed when he reached the arcade and Jimin and Taehyung stopped their impromptu serenading. He walked towards the waiting boys who were standing at the front of the arcade while pocketing his phone.

"You ready?" He asked the older boys.

"Hell yeah!" Jimin responded, eagerly grabbing Felix's and Taehyung's arms before dragging them inside the venue. "Let's get this challenge started, I can't wait to have you both doing what I say by the end of today," Both Felix and Taehyung sputtered out laughs but neither denied that that was exactly how the day would end up.

They were onto their fourth game, with Felix surprisingly in the lead, when a familiar voice startled Felix.

"Felix?" Seungmin's light voice seemed to cut through the loud game sounds easily and the red head turned around, midgame. He stared at the brunette in surprise as he noticed Jeongin and Jisung by his side. In his peripherals, Felix saw Jimin and Taehyung also stop, turning around, watching their interaction uncertainly.   
Felix glanced at the two older boys and subtly signaled that it was alright. The two visibly relaxed but their eyes remained trained on the three in front of the freckled boy warily.

"What are you guys doing here?" Felix asked.

"What are we doing here?" Jisung asked incredulously. The rapper was already concerned for how discouraged Minho would be when he spoke to him later. Not to mention concerned about his soulmate. They were practically twins and Jisung hated how much his freckled friend had distanced himself from him since _that _day. "I think the better question is what are you doing here? You don't even like the arcade."

Jimin and Taehyung glanced at Felix sharply and the red head hung his head slightly. It was true that he wasn't the biggest fan of the arcade, but that was because it was usually crowded and there was no way to escape the overall claustrophobic atmosphere of the place. But somehow, when he was with Jimin and Taehyung, he could just lose himself in the joy of playing the games alongside them.

"Or do you only like the arcade when you're with your new friends?" Jisung's tone was accusatory and harsh but Felix knew it was just his way of masking his hurt. Seungmin slapped the brunette upside the head with a frown before anyone else could speak or do anything.

"Stop being a jealous prick, Jisung. It doesn't matter who Felix does or doesn't like going to the arcade with. You forget, when we last went to the arcade with him, he couldn't leave the house alone because of all the people walking on the paths, so how do you think he felt walking into a crowded place like this?" Jisung looked aptly reprimanded and Jeongin was stifling a laugh behind his hand, his crinkled eyes a dead give away to his mirth.

"You tell him, hyung!" Seungmin shot the maknae a half-hearted glare and the younger lost it, laughing loudly while walking away to compose himself. Seungmin sighed before looking to Felix imploringly.

"Where did we go wrong with that child?" He asked with a sigh. The red head just chuckled, a delighted grin decorating his features in a way that left the brunette smiling softly. It was something he hadn't seen his best friend do in a long time, and he desperately missed it.

"I'm sorry, Lix," Jisung apologised suddenly.

"It's okay, Sungie," the freckled boy assured his almost twin. "I know your jealousy gets the best of you sometimes," the rapper glared at Felix in annoyance.

"Hey! It does not!" The boy denied loudly. A few people turned to glance at the group but immediately looked away when Jimin glared at them.

Seungmin glanced between Felix and the two strangers beside him silently. The freckled boy caught on to the unspoken question and Felix rushed to introduce the boys. Jeongin had thankfully just returned to the group, composed but with a sly grin still gracing his features.

"This is Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung," Felix gestured to each boy as he said their name. His three friends nodded and extended their hands in greeting before introducing themselves.

"It's nice to finally meet the amazing Seungmin we have heard so much about," Jimin drawled. Felix shivered at the low tone the ash blond had taken on. Seungmin glanced at Felix in surprise.

"You talk about me?"

"Uhm... I talk about all of you?" He replied uncertainly. Jeongin's expression became apprehensive as he glanced between the two older boys and Felix. He stepped back, nevrously playing with the rings on his fingers. Jimin caught the maknae's nervous movements and sent him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry. It's all good things,"

"Okay, that has to be a lie," Jisung declared boldly. "There is no way Felix would have anything good to say about Minho anymore," Seungmin turned towards the rapper, ready to slap him again when Taehyung's voice rumbled through the air.

"We weren't talking about _him_."

"I-"

"We rarely talk about _him_," Taehyung's hard stare settled on the squirrel-cheeked boy reprimandingly. Jisung bowed his head in apology to his unnecessary outburst. The dark haired boy was growing frustrated the longer he saw Felix beside the other two. They were extremely good looking, good enough to be famous, international models or idols. And on top of that, they were genuine, kind, and liked to have fun. It would be too easy to lose Felix to them. Jisung understood why Minho was so concerned now, even without knowing what the boys looked, sounded or acted like. Because Jisung was terrified that he would wake up and find out that the red head was moving in with Jimin and Taehyung.

"Umm... so, what brought you guys here?" Felix asked again, in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

"Jeongin wanted to come here and see who could win the most tickets," Seungmin responded, relief shining gratefully in his eyes. The dark haired maknae grinned gloatingly before announcing who the winner was.

"I won the most tickets so Seungmin hyung and Jisung hyung have _offered_ to buy me lunch!" Jeongin exclaimed eagerly.

"Offered?" Seungmin scoffed at the same time Jisung exclaimed, "Offered!"

"This brat here," Jisung moved towrads Jeongin before grabbing him in a headlock. "Is draining our wallets all because of a stupid competition where the losers pay for the winner's lunch!"

"Stupid? You didn't seem to think it was stupid before I won," the dark haired boy exposed the rapper daringly despite the boy's arm near his throat.

Jimin's cute giggle floated through the air. Felix and Taehyung glanced at the dancer with grins of their own. "Looks like your dongsaeng has you there," the ash blond smiled charmingly at the trio and they smiled back, all previous reservations and apprehension gone. Felix loved how Jimin had that effect on people.

"So, are you going to get lunch now?" Taehyung queried. The trio nodded. "Mind if we join you? Don't worry, we will pay the bill," the blue haired boy added, seeing the look of concern flash on Seungmin's face and his hand instinctively move towards his wallet.

"Uh-"

"Oh! What if we have a group lunch with everyone so that way everyone can meet us?" Jimin perked up. He turned eagerly towards Felix, his eyes telling the red head that he could decline if he felt uncomfortable.

"I think that would be a great idea, hyung. What do you think, Seungmin?" Felix asked his best friend, wanting his opinion as well. The red head was actually excited for his two friend groups to meet each other. He hoped it would help each group feel less apprehensive about the other- not that Jungkook and the others felt that way towards Felix's friends or even Minho.

"Oh, um, I'm sure Chan wouldn't mind. But does this include Minho?" The brunette shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously as he glanced between Taehyung, Jimin and Felix.

"Well, we can't just exclude him," Felix responded slowly. "He is a part of our household and he is friends with the rest of you," Jeongin snorted at the word term.

"If you could call that thing slinking around the house sulkily a part of the household, then sure, include him. I, for one, think it's a terrible idea to bring him along. No one likes him anyway. He will just ruin the mood with his temper."

"Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. You're the only one I see ruining the mood with your petty and disrespectful behaviour," Jisung seethed, his stare stony as it fixated on the bored maknae. Jeongin looked at Jisung with disinterest, the smallest hint of annoyance tugging the corners of his lips down.

"Don't get so defensive, Jisung hyung. Your little crush is getting annoying," Jisung glanced at Felix in alarm, his mouth already opening to deny the claim. Felix observed the boy blankly. Jisung had a crush on Minho? Before he could grow too carried away by his curious and slightly hurt thoughts, Jeongin's voice ploughed forward, disturbing Jisung's words before they could weed their way to the surface. "Minho is a bad tempered person who disrespected Felix to the point where if it were up to me, I would have kicked him out of the house. He deserves no respect."

"Well, it's a good thing it isn't up to you," the dark haired rapper was furious, his fists clenched and shaking, his eyes narrowed and cold, his voice deep and rough with rage.

Jimin stepped forward before things could escalate. "How about we play a few games together to cool off? The person who earns the most tickets out of three games gets to make the people with the least amount of tickets do whatever they want for thr next 24 hours," Jimin's expression became serious suddenly as he added in a light voice, "terms and conditions apply."

Felix nearly choked on his saliva as he tried to inhale and laugh at the same time. The other boys grinned, a few melodic jingles of laughter escaping each of them at the short phrase every ad seemed to include on the television.

\-----------------------------

The red haired boy sighed contentedly as he observed his friends interacting and competing against each other. He stood a little off to the side with Jeongin as Taehyung and Seungmin versed Jimin and Jisung in air hocky. Jimin and Jisung were ahead by 250 points but Felix knew that the scores were not set in stone yet. The competitive clench of Seungmin's jaw combined with his narrowed eyes which focused solely on the pucks suggested decimation. There was no way Jimin and Jisung were escaping this game unscathed. Felix giggled with Jeongin as they observed Jisung and Jimin grow increasingly frustrated as the tables turned and Seungmin single-handedly destroyed their score with an extra 700 points. Felix chuckled loudly when he glanced at Taehyung and was met with baffled bewilderment. The older boy's eyes were wide with astonishment as Seungmin moved swiftly and precisely, delivering devastating blows to Jimin's and Jisung's pride like a well-oiled machine.

A victorious shout from Taehyung signaled the end of the game. Seumin smirked at the opposing team while brushing off his hands casually. Taehyung jumped around Seungmin and wrapped his arms around him, encouraging him to jump with him. Felix laughed loudly as the younger boy grinned and allowed the giddiness of his sweet victory hit him full force. This game was the final one and it had just made Taehyung and Seungmin the winners.

The idea of teaming up had been Jeongin's idea. Felix believed it was an excuse to continue keeping his distance from Jisung while (hopefully) beating him. All of them had agreed that pairing up would be a great idea as it meant a few other games could be played. So, after quickly working out the groups and tallying up the pairs' collective scores, they set out to destroy each other.

Unfortunately, Felix and Jeongin ended up left behind in the dust as Jimin and Jisung, and Taehyung and Seungmin raced ahead with what seemed like superhuman scores to the younger boys. However, they were eager to watch the rivalry between the two groups grow as they battled to be the winner.

The only time anxiety pricked at Felix was when he noticed the crowd they had drawn. It was only a dozen people, but that was enough to have Felix forgetting how to breathe until Jeongin put a comforting arm around him and whispered encouragement to him. The younger continued to speak softly, offering Felix something else to focus on, until Felix relaxed.

With Taehyung and Seungmin the winners and Jeongin and Felix the indisputable losers, Felix felt his wallet wailing already. A glance at Jeongin's wary expression told Felix that the younger was hearing his own wallet cry as well. He glanced at the four boys, two beaming with victory and two begrudgingly licking their wounds. Even if it was just the six of them, Felix would not be able to pay for all of the food they would eat, and with the possibility of the other ten boys joining them for lunch, there was no way Felix would be able to afford it, even with Jeongin's help.

Lost in thought, Felix didn't hear Seungmin calling his name at first. It wasn't until Jeongin nudged him back to reality that he looked up from the floor and met the brunette's brown eyes shining with affection and slyness.

"Felix?"

"Sorry, yeah?" He blinked at the boy as Taehyung moved to stand beside him.

"Don't stress, Felix," Taehyung's voice danced joyfully through the air, mingling eagerly with the jingles of the games within the arcade. "We wouldn't allow our dongsaengs to pay for all of us." Taehyung's expression became bored for a moment as he added, "Besides, Namjoon hyung would lecture us about being bad hyungs if we did that," he pulled a face and all four of them giggled.

A sigh snagged their attention and Felix glanced over to his right. Jimin was standing between Seungmin and Felix with Jisung hiding shamefully behind him. If Felix wasn't still a little upset from finding out that Jisung had a crush on Minho, then he would have hugged his almost twin and promised him cuddles back at the house. It might have seemed ridiculous to anyone else, but he wasn't upset that Jisung was crushing on Minho, it was bound to happen afterall - it's not like Minho was unattractive. What upset Felix was the fact that Jisung had kept it from him. How long had he been keeping it a secret? Had Jisung liked Minho when Felix had told him about his own hopeless crush on the ravenette? Is that why the boy Felix would consider his brother had not uttered a single word about liking Minho?

Shooing away the nagging questions he would probably never get an answer for, the red haired boy smiled at Jimin. The ash blond returned the gesture eagerly before telling Taehyung that he had texted Namjoon and the older had told them to come home and help him convince Yoongi to get out of bed.

Bidding farewell to the older boys was amusing to Felix. Jisung seemed eager to shadow Jimin home before Seungmin grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back, all while smiling brightly and waving at the two walking away. Jeongin giggled with Felix at the scene. Jimin stopped for a second to blow Jisung a joking kiss while Taehyung chuckled endlessly, finding the whole ordeal hilarious - especially as Jisung blushed a dark red and tried to scurry behind Seungmin to hide his crimson face.

\--------

It seemed as if Jisungs embarrassment was enough to resolve the tension between him and Jeongin - or Jeongin deemed this, combined with his defeat, enough to make up for his earlier transgressions, because the dark haired boy gleefully teased the older about his _very _red face for the entire twenty minute walk back to the house.

Jisung jokingly went to strangle Jeongin at one stage and Seungmin had to hold the boy back. His eyes stared at Felix imploringly, but the freckled boy couldn't stop laughing and found himself unable to help restrain Jisung.

When they, entered the house, their giggles quietened as they snuck into the kitchen to grab the bag of snacks Seungmin had bought the day before. Felix was grabbing some glasses so the boys could drink some soda, when he heard Minho's voice. The once comforting sound sent a shiver of apprehension down his spine. He glanced at the three boys and they met his gaze with furrowed brows. Although, none of them could discern what was being said, they could all hear the tense tone Minho's muffled words carried.

Shuffling quietly out of the kitchen, glass forgotten in his hand, Felix followed the others towards the living room. Just as they made it to the door way, Minho's words rang clearly through the air like a clock tower bell chiming loudly so it could be heard over the cacophony of the city.

"I'm moving out." Those three words sent a hurricane of emotions rampaging through Felix. Without realising, the glass slipped from his fingers and shattered on the tiled kitchen floor. Something within him scoffed at how the shards were almost an exact replica of his heart; broken and irreparable. Hundreds of thoughts crashed through his mind all at once, reminiscent of a stampede of wild rhinos. His skull felt like it would split open from the impact of the thoughts being flung against it violently as the raging winds tearing him apart seemed to only grow more vicious.

Minho can't leave! That thought- that desperation exclamation shot through him, spearing his lungs and tearing the organ to pieces. Felix felt oxygen and carbon dioxide stutter in his throat as he forgot how to breathe (**A/N: this is where I started to cry. I was listening to Astronaut and started wondering which parts Woojin would have been singing or if they removed those parts. And then I started thinking about how their future songs really won't have Woojin... goodnight**). The world blurred and refocused as a fuzzy darkness scratched at the sides of his eyes, consuming his vision.

As quickly as the sheer panic had come, it disappeared. A furious determination standing steadfast in it's place, it's jaw snapping viciously with rage and betrayal. A scary calm washed over Felix, soothing his muscles, soothing his aching heart, soothing his burning lungs, and washing away any traces of his previous panic.

"I'm moving out. I'm going back to Korea. I plan to be gone before the month is over," the practised words slashed at the frothing beast trembling with pent up fury, goading it. It was only logical that the beast would retaliate, that it would lash out with just as much fervor.

"No you're not," the words were red and raw, bloodied and torn. An unyielding demand hiding a broken plea that had been whispered into the silent night too many times: _don't leave me, please. _

Every pair of eyes in the room flickered to the scrunched freckled face of the red haired boy who was glaring at Minho with an unyielding ferocity. Felix refused to back down even as t he pressure of all of these people watching him, sparked his anxiety. The multiple sets of eyes only encouraged the beast.

"You are not going back to Korea," the beast launched itself at it's unsuspecting prey, it's teeth bared. "You are not moving out. You don't get to runaway, _Lee Minho_," the name was spat out as if the syllables were poisoned. Felix glared at Minho. It was infuriating that the boy he had idolized and cared for more than he should have, was trying to bail instead of trying to fix things. The beast of rage within him snarled at the the thought of Minho scampering away with his tail between his legs. It was pathetic. The boy was supposed to care for Felix. He was supposed to want to fix this. Yet, all he wanted to do was get as far away from Felix as possible.

As a storm cloud of sadness loomed over the beast and allowed freezing fat drops of despair and loneliness to numb the raging beast. Before the tidal wave could crash through his eyes and reveal his pain to the world, Felix stormed down the hall and entered his room. The slam of the door boomed through the air like a loud clash of thunder. With this herald of a storm, Felix's dam broke and tears cascaded past his freckles freely. A single thought raced within the droplets of warm salty water as they dropped from his chin into a freefall to the floor;

Why does Minho hate him?   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey... I'm sorry this isn't the super long chapter that I promised. I really wanted to publish something today because it is officially one month since we found out about Woojin leaving Stray Kids... I wanted to do something to defy the stupid lack of motivation and depression I've been dealing with. 
> 
> And so, Ta-Da!
> 
> I'm super sorry that it is poorly written (and unedited) and that it has taken me so long to post something. But hopefully this will make up for that -> This story will no longer be on hiatus and I will update HOE monthly. 
> 
> I want to take a moment to thank you.   
Thank you for waiting so patiently.  
Thank you for reading.   
Thank you for commenting.  
Thank you for voting.   
Thank you for existing ♡


	7. CHAPTER FOUR - TEASER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so so so sorry! I forgot to upload this here! I updated on wattpad on the 28th but completely forgot to update HOE on here. Please forgive me... I've done the same thing with the Christmas story as well :( I'm so sorry!

Minho glanced between Jimin and Jisung with confusion. Jisung was blushing, his head bowed slightly, finds playing nervously with the bottom of his shirt, while Jimin was grinning at Jisung and whispering inaudible things to the usually confident boy. Minho observed ruefully as Jimin put an arm around Jisung's shoulders and pulled him close before practically parading him around to his friends. A nagging thought pestered Minho as he watched Jisung's shy behaviour, did Jisung like Jimin?   
  


Felix stared at his almost twin with an amused smile. Jisung looked beyond shy and whenever Felix caught him glancing up at Jimin, all he saw was awe. The red haired boy's chest swelled with happiness that Jisung was awed by Jimin and that the others seemed to be getting along pretty well with his friends. Felix ignored the fact that Minho stood a little off to the side while Chan and Woojin discussed a variety of topics with Namjoon and Jin. He allowed his eyes to roam over the group. Changbin and Seungmin were talking to Yoongi who was being surprisingly responsive and even had his gummy smile on display. Hyunjin was talking to Hoseok and Taehyung about dancing.

Felix glanced behind him as Jeongin's arms wrapped around his arm tightly. His furrowed brows asked the younger a question which he answered without Felix having to utter a single word, "I'm scared," he whispered in Felix's ear.

The red haired boy smiled encouragingly at Jeongin, opening his mouth to tell him that he could relax, that he would be here for him for however long he needed when Jungkook approached them, his goofy smile already settled onto his face. Felix smiled back at his friend, waving enthusiastically. They had seen each other a few days ago, but to Felix it felt like it had been years, he had so much he needed to tell the other, but this was not the time nor the place to do it. So, he just greeted Jungkook and introduced him to Jeongin.

Pride and joy swirled within his chest as Jeongin spoke animatedly with Jungkook as they bonded over being the youbgest in their friend group. As he glanced around at everyone once more, a thought popped into his head. A "what if?" that prodded his anxiety to nibble at his heart, sending it racing in a panic to escape the anxious thought. He just hoped that the night would continue to go smoothly. He didn't want any animosity between his friends, it was already bad enough living in a broken household where half of his friends hated Minho and the other half just weren't sure how much they could interact with Minho without upsetting Felix - which was ridiculous because what should it matter if it upset him? He wasn't worth all of the fuss.   
  


My end note from Wattpad:

**Sorry that this is just a teaser :( I'm too tired and too unprepared for a proper chapter today. I also seriously miss Woojin 😢**   
**@ dianekmtsu is in mamma mode and doesn't want me to push myself too much because I'm hella tired and should be sleeping rn, so this is the best I could do. I will try my hardest to get Chapter Four posted before the end of next week (and if I don't, feel free to dm me to remind me about it). And yes, the next chapter will include Minho's and Felix's POVs ^-^ and we will be seeing the two groups meet each other. I wonder how that will go? Feel free to leave a theory on what could go wrong- or right - with this meeting in the comments. Who knows, maybe I might include your theory in the chapter :) **   
**Goodnight **

**(I'm sorry if I disappointed you btw) **


	8. A/N - I'm going on hiatus

Our dog has a degenerative hip disease. We have to put her down. I'm going on hiatus. 


	9. HOE: DIVERGENCE

  
**Hola, faithful readers, I have some interesting news for you. As I am still on hiatus, I have not completed chapter four for you yet. But, I recently (at 12 or 1am today) had an interesting idea for HOE. However, the new idea would require a complete genre and plot change, and after asking you what piqued your curiosity enough for you to read this story (I asked this on wattpad), I have decided that reorganising this version of HOE into the new idea for HOE is incompatible. Hence, I will be releasing what will be titled '** _ **HOE: DIVERGENCE'** _ **. This story will have the same cover as this story as they will in essence be the same story, however, they will follow two very different plots/genres. I aim to try to make this version of HOE more light hearted as the plan for the ** _ **HOE: DIVERGENCE** _ ** is what may be considered dark** **. (Long story short... I don't know how to hiatus lmao)**

**Here is the blurb/description for ** _ **HOE: DIVERGENCE.** _

  
  


**BREAKING NEWS:** A YOUNG BOY HAS TRAGICALLY TAKEN HIS OWN LIFE.

**BREAKING NEWS: **THE CASE OF LEE FELIX, AGE 19, ORIGINALLY SUSPECTED TO HAVE COMMITED SUICIDE IS NOW BEING SUSPECTED AS A MURDER.

**BREAKING NEWS:** LEE FELIX MURDERED BY INFAMOUS RED STRING KILLER.

**BREAKING NEWS: **THE ELUSIVE RED STRING KILLER FINALLY ARRESTED AFTER ELUDING POLICE FOR OVER A DECADE.

**BREAKING NEWS:** RED STRING KILLER, ANTHONY TALBOT, PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO THE MURDER OF LEE FELIX.

**BREAKING NEWS: **LEE FELIX'S FRIENDS UNDER FIRE FOR POSSIBLE COERCED SUICIDE.

**BREAKING NEWS:** A YOUNG BOY HAS TRAGICALLY TAKEN HIS OWN LIFE.   
  


_"Are you sure about this?"_

_"Yes." _

_"Is there really no other way?" _

_"No."_


	10. CHAPTER FOUR - PART I

After Felix had disappeared to his bedroom, the silence had been boiling with tension. The glares from his friends weighed heavily upon Minho's shoulders, even hours later. While everyone else had dawdled away to their rooms, Minho had remained in the lounge room. He sat down heavily on the couch as his legs gave out. A raspy breath burnt his throat. His heart beat against his rib cage in frustration. Why was he so stupid?

He couldn't seem to stop saying and doing the wrong things. The wrong things. Things that went against what he meant- how he felt. He didn't want to push Felix away. Minho wanted to hold him close and never let go, but he was so afraid... If he wasn't good enough for Felix, then who was? If Minho wasn't what Felix deserved, then was anyone good enough?

A red faced Felix stormed into the lounge room, brown eyes dark with a brooding fury and merciless determination. "Get up," Felix seethed. Minho involuntarily flinched at the authority of his tone. Although the words were barely above a whisper, the air felt heavy with them. Although the words were barely above a whisper, the world seemed to be holding it's breath in submissive silence as if they were screamed. Although the words were barely above a whisper, Minho trembled with intimidation as his gaze immediately dropped to the floor after making the mistake of making eye contact with the boy he had hurt. "I said, get. Up."

Minho obeyed wordlessly. "I am not going to let you ruin my day again. We are having lunch with my friends and you are coming too, whether you want to or not."

Felix strode out of the room without hesitation, walking down the hallway with scarily even strides. "Hurry up and get ready. We leave in ten minutes."

\---

They left not a second later than ten minutes. Felix had asked if they could walk to the restaurant as it was only a fifteen minute walk away from their house. Of course everyone was eager to agree. Minho even found himself nodding his head slightly in agreeance. If Felix wanted to walk, then they would walk.

Jisung went around from person to person, shamelessly requesting a piggyback. To which, he got a lot of stern no's as everyone refused to carry him.

"Just walk, Jisung, it won't kill you," Chan said, frustration ebbing into his tone as he listened to Jisung repeatedly whine. Jisung glanced at Chan with narrow eyes, his attack on Changbin momentarily halted as he grumbled out "You don't know that!"

Much to everyone's surprise and predictions, Jisung flopped onto the ground while making supposed "dying" sounds. As everyone stopped walking to stare at him, he choked out words that had Minho biting his lip to hide his smile at the younger's ridiculous actions.

"Chan hyung! Walking is killing me!" Chan stared down at Jisung with an unimpressed, raised eyebrow. A strangled cough echoed around the group as they all tried to hide their amusement. Even Woojin held a hand over his mouth, his slightly crinkled eyes giving away the mirth he tried to hide.

With a smile tugging at his lips, Hyunjin swooped down and picked up the "dying" boy, his poorly concealed giggles applauding Jisung's act. Chan rolled his eyes, sighed heavily and turned around to continue walking. Everyone followed suit, although sporadic glances were thrown towards the slightly stumbling Hyunjin who was struggling with the awkward weight of Jisung who had decided to koala hug his back. Changbin sniggered at the scene and received a weak glare from Hyunjin. Both boys knew that he couldn't be mad because he had brought the comedic situation onto himself (literally) by choosing to pick up Jisung instead of just leaving him on the ground.

Minho snorted quietly and ignored the looks he got from Jeongin, Seungmin and Chan.

"Hey, Minho hyung! Why don't you carry Jisung?" Hyunjin called out suddenly. Minho's steps stuttered and and turned his head to look at the boy incredulously.

"Me? I don't need to because you are, Hyunjin," his brows were drawn together in confusion. Why was Hyunjin asking such a pointless question. Minho's question was answered a moment later when Jisung's eyes lit up with an idea. The moment Jisung restarted his theatrics, Minho glared at Hyunjin who just smirked knowingly at Minho.

"Oh, please, Minho hyungie! Please carry me!" Jisung whined. He began to weasel his way off of Hyunjin's back while staring at Minho with pleading eyes. "He is all over the place and it is making me feel motion sick!" Once again, all of the members stopped and stared at the dramatic boy. A few glanced between Hyunjin and Jisung and wondered if the former had some how transferred his dramatic nature to Jisung via physical contact.

Minho snorted and rolled his eyes. "Then walk," he said apathetically. He turned around and was ready to begin walking away when he suddenly found himself nearly toppling over as he was hit from behind by what felt like a great dane. He stumbled but managed to recover his balance. His eyes immediately narrowed. Sliding his gaze to over his shoulder, he made eye contact with the human who was now shamelessly clinging to his back. Jisung threw a satisfied grin at Minho and kissed his cheek playfully.

Minho, who had just opened his mouth to yell at the boy to get off of him, quickly shut his mouth and found his mind was uncharacteristically blank. He couldn't remember what he was going to say or how to say anything. He ignored the heat that was quick to flush his cheeks, quickly walking forward, his body adjusting to Jisung's weight easily.

"You're blushing," Jisung teased, his breath tickling Minho's ear. Minho swatted at Jisung's face, however, the latter only laughed triumphantly as Minho's face darkened a few shades more.

Unbeknownst to either boy, Felix's longing gaze followed them both.

\------------

Felix tore his eyes away from the two lovebirds and accidentally met Hyunjin's apologetic stare. He wiped away his frown and replaced it with a small smile and shook his head. It wasn't Hyunjin's fault that Minho didn't like Felix. It wasn't Hyunjin's fault that Jisung was the perfect person for Minho and made their hyung happier than Felix ever could. Being honest, Felix was happy that his almost twin was happy and that he was able to make Minho happy too.

It just hurt that he wasn't the one who could provide Minho with happiness- that he wasn't the one that Minho looked at with hearts shining in his beautiful brown eyes.

An arm slung around Felix's shoulder and his head snapped up from it's drooped position it had fallen into while Felix was thinking. Felix gave Changbin a genuine smile when he realised it was the elder who had put his arm around him. The shorter boy grinned back.

Neither boy spoke for the rest of walk to the restaurant, but the silent comfort was enough for Felix. Knowing that Changbin was there for him, made an unfamiliar warmth blossom inside his chest.

He felt... loved. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! I finally updated HOE! I decided to break Chapter Four up into a couple of parts so that way it wasn't this huge task for me to try and finish before publishing. So, I apologise that the first chapter you get after a couple of months is so short. I didn't want to write the originally planned long ass chapter and end up giving you something less than mediocre, so I figured breaking it into parts would work.   
So now I can give you better content (hopefully), while giving myself more manageable chapter sizes. I am three weeks behind on uni studies and have exams in the next week or so, so I may not be able to get on Wattpad or ao3 as much, but I will try to. And I will try to write, edit and publish the next part of Chapter Four soon ♡
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has and still is reading, leaving kudos and commenting on this story. It means a lot that this story that was inspired by a random tumblr meme at 3am in the morning last year is so well loved by you.
> 
> (I also just went through and edited the previous chapters. Hopefully I fixed all of the typos and spelling errors.)


	11. A/N: THANKS TO WJ, I'LL BE DELETING THIS. BUT PLEASE READ. IMPORTANT INFO

** *!THIS STORY WILL ONLY BE UP FOR ANOTHER 24ISH HOURS (MAYBE A LITTLE LESS) TO GIVE READERS ADEQUATE TIME TO BE AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING!* **

Hi, 

You likely already know of the situation regarding Kim Woojin and the accusations he is facing. 

Due to evidence suggesting that he is guilty and me not wanting someone like him in my stories, I will be deleting this story. 

**WAIT A MOMENT! **Before you click away! I may **re-upload** this in the future with some edit so this person is no longer included in this story. Please, if you are interested in the continuation of this after Woojin is removed and the plot altered to accommodate those changes, then dm me (on wattpad: Strayis, twitter: the_strayis, or instagram: the_strayis) or leave a comment expressing your interest. 

This would be so that I can contact you when the story has been re-uploaded. Even if you just leave a comment with a **green**** heart emoji 💚**, I'll know to let you know when this story is re-uploaded. I will also inform you if I have decided not to re-upload this same way, but only if you have let me know that you wish to be informed. 

And yes, I may choose not to re-upload, if that is the case, then I may gift the plot to another if they wish to continue the story themselves. Or I may just return it to my drafts until I feel inspired to work with the plot again. I may even change the group associated with the plot. If this occurs, I will let you know. But remember to leave a green heart emoji either in the comments or in my dms if you want to be kept in the loop.

P.S. dming me might help because I don't know how to specifically notify people here on ao3. I mean, I assume tagging in a chapter would work, right?


	12. A/N: NOTICEBOARD #1 - A POLL

####  [stormiestories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormiestories/pseuds/stormiestories)

####  [Hyunjinnie_ah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyunjinnie_ah/pseuds/Hyunjinnie_ah)

####  [minhoesdeprimaverapqesflordetrolo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/minhoesdeprimaverapqesflordetrolo/pseuds/minhoesdeprimaverapqesflordetrolo)

####  [Idk_nan_molla_butx2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idk_nan_molla_butx2/pseuds/Idk_nan_molla_butx2)

####  [angelic_creature12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelic_creature12/pseuds/angelic_creature12)

####  [Trees77](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trees77/pseuds/Trees77)

**(Can someone please tell me if this tagged them? I don't think it did, but I'm trying)**

Hi! So, as you may have noticed, this story is still up and unedited. I have decided I will keep the original versions of my stories up and available until the editing process is complete, and then I will replace the chapters with the edits rather than deleting the whole thing. I have also still been receiving comments from some readers up to even yesterday for continuing my stories, so I don't want to delete this in case some readers haven't been on in a while and haven't seen the last A/N yet. I hope this doesn't offend anyone.

**Now, let's get down to business [to defeat, the Huns XD]!**

Since starting this story, a lot has changed in my life and my mentality and I have realised that the original way I intended for this story to go may be toxic unless handled well and while I am okay with working with this story as it is, I have also noticed that a decent handful of you, my lovely readers, are trying really hard to not ship Jungkook and Felix. I too am struggling with that XD 

I have also been informed that it is extremely rare to find this ship and there are a few people who really like it, and so, I want to propose a poll. The poll would simply be between two ships; **Minlix **& **Kooklix**. This poll will be so you, as the readers, can tell me which ship you are more interested in for this story. Seeing as how I already have to edit a certain someone out, I figured, some extra editing would be alright to do. 

I know I have already labelled this story as a Minlix fic, but if you are interested in Kooklix instead, I can easily change it. If you wish for this story to remain Minlix, then it will.

**To vote on which ship you would prefer, just comment the ship name of your choice. **

** THE POLL **

o **MINLIX**

o** KOOKLIX**

**Thank you** for being interested in this story and for commenting on the last A/N. I literally only expected three people tops to comment on either of my stories. But you all left me pleasantly surprised. So, **thank you**. It really means a lot and it really helped me feel better considering the circumstances and the stress of upcoming exams. 

****If your voted ship has the least amount of votes, don't fret. Depending on the circumstances, I may also upload a version with that ship in the future. But I also may not. **

**However, I may gift the alternate plot to an interested person so they can complete it if I do not wish to do so. **


End file.
